A Change of Fate
by QueenMaryofEngland
Summary: I've seen this story done a couple of times before and I wanted to give it a try myself. So what if Jane Seymour was Henry's 2nd Queen and Anne Boleyn was his 3rd. How would the events unfold, would Anne be a friend to Katherine and Mary or would she be in it for herself. And what will she do when Henry puts his affection on her. I don't own any of the characters in this story.
1. Chapter I

**Authors Note:** **so I saw this idea done in a couple of stories and I wanted to give it a try. So basically the plot is 'what if Anne was Henry's 3** **rd** **Queen and Jane was his 2** **nd** **.**

 **And for those who are following A New Life the chapter should be up in a couple of days, sorry for the delay.**

Anne Boleyn, for the first time in her life, was nervous. And she had good reason to be. She had just travelled from her home in Heaver all the way to Whitehall palace. If she had her way she would off put going to Whitehall off for another couple of weeks as she had only been back in England for a month after spending most of her life in France.

But sadly that was not to be as she received a letter from court telling her to come immediately to begin her serveries as lady-in-waiting to the Queen, Katherine of Aragon. Inside she felt sorry for the Queen she had all but heard that the King was setting her aside so that he could marry his new love, Jane Seymour. Anne didn't know much about this Seymour girl but she knew that she must have no heart. What kind of woman tries to steal away a woman's husband?

Suddenly though she was pulled out of her thoughts as she looked up to see the doors of the chambers of the Queen. They were easy to spot as all around them you could see the carvings of the Tudor rose with the pomegranate, with an illustrious HK in the middle. Anne rose her hand to knock on the door and almost instantly it was opened by another one the maids who looked at her before allowing her entrance.

As she walked in all she could see was the grand furniture placed around the room and the great Spanish tapestries that hung on the walls. In Anne's eyes it made the room look a little to miserable but she was in no place to judge the Queens decisions.

"Her majesty will be her in just a moment. You are not to speak to her unless you are invited to, understood?"

All Anne could do was give a small nod of her head before she heard footsteps emerge from the bed chamber. Seeing that everyone else began to bow Anne did so as well hoping that the Queen didn't view her late bow as an offence.

"Mistress Boleyn, rise." Anne slowly rose into a standing positions but was still keeping her head down.

"I trust that your journey her was a good one"

"Yes, your majesty the weather held out very well."

"Good. I will have one of my maids give you your uniform for you to get changed into and I expect you back shortly. You may leave now"

Anne dropped into another curtsey before turning to see one of the other ladies holding in front of a dress as well as a headpiece which she handed to her before giving her instructions on where the ladies quarters were.

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Anne had made her way quickly and quietly to her rooms where she got changed into her new uniform. Before going back to the Queen's rooms with an added pace to her feet. The last thing she wanted to do was to disappoint the Queen on her first day no less. When she got back to the rooms she was given the task of sorting out the jewels and putting them back into their proper place, the job was easy and after she was done she wasn't given any other job.

Deciding to do something with her spare time Anne walked over to the corner of the room where there was a pile of books that Anne was told were for the ladies-in-waiting to read when they finished their duties. Picking up one of the books she began reading it, for about ten minutes before she felt a pair of eyes looking at her.

"Lady Anne" Katherine said snapping Anne out of her reading. "What are you reading?" she asked.

Anne lifted the book up from her lap and read the title out loud to the Queen. When she looked back up to meet her eyes all she saw was confusion. Anne thought that maybe she had picked up a book from the wrong area and was ready to apologise until she heard Katherine speak up. "You can speak Spanish?"

"Yes, your majesty"

"Can you speak any other languages?"

"Yes. I can speak Latin, French, English and Spanish."

Katherine looked at her lady-in-waiting in shock. Never had she had a lady in her employ who could speak more than one language fluently. Sure she had her Spanish ladies but they could barely speak English and only did so when they were talking to members of the court. Katherine became curious to see what else she knew.

"Where did you learn to speak these languages?"

"At the court of Margaret of Austria, your majesty. She took a liking to me and allowed me to be taught alongside her children."

"You had the education of a princess?"

"Yes."

Katherine paused for a second before continuing "How would you like to teach the Princess Mary French. She has been having trouble with it for quite a while and I was hoping that you could help her?"

Anne looked at the Queen in shock for a few moments. "There would be no greater honour your majesty. I have heard that the Princess is a very intelligent child so it would not take long for her to pick it up."

"She is isn't she? Lady Anne can you promise me that you will always be a true friend to her, for I fear she will not have many soon."

"Why not? Sorry for my lack of knowledge it's just that I've only been in England for a month so I know nothing of the politics at court currently and I heard some rumours but I didn't think anything if it."

"I forgive you. It's just the King is trying to divorce me." Anne let out a gasp on hearing this "He is planning to put me aside so he can marry his new love Jane Seymour and that woman is so vile that I fear that if she could she would kill my daughter to sure her bastards a throne."

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After Katherine explained the whole situation to Anne they moved onto a different subject back Anne couldn't get it out of the back of her mind. She hadn't even meet Jane Seymour and she already had a dislike of her. From what Katherine had said to her the King was desperate for a male heir and this Seymour girl had played on his desperation by promising that she could give him a son but the turned around and pretended to be all moral and virtuous when telling him that she would only enter his bed as Queen.

The nerve of that woman! To put on this mask of being a pure untouched maiden whilst trying with all of her strength to dispose of a good Queen and leave her daughter a bastard. However apparently Anne wasn't the only one to have a dislike of the woman. Half of the court hated her for getting rid of a popular Queen and the other half disliked her because in order to get his divorce he had to break from the church and in their eyes that was unforgivable to them. The only people that supported her was her family who benefited the most from her rise to power.

Currently Anne was sat on bench in the gardens reading a passage in French to the Princess Mary who was looking at the book with a great concentration, Katherine had been right when she said that Mary wasn't the best at French. But she was quickly taking to it. The way she was teaching her was that Anne would read a passage to her and the she would translate into English before putting it back into French.

But, the lesson was cut short when she heard the sound of Mary's ladies saying 'Your majesty' and seeing them bow. Putting the book on the bench beside her she watched as Mary jumped down from the bench and ran towards her farther.

"My precious pearl, how are you." He asked as he picked her up in to her arms.

"Well. I've just been having my French lesson with Lady Anne" the little girl said as she pointed to Anne. Whatever Mary had said to him next he was not paying attention. All he could think about was how beautiful the woman before him was, with her dark hair and piercing blue eyes she was the complete opposite of his lovely Jane. Maybe when the two were married he would make her his mistress.

"Lady Anne, your Katherine's new lady right."

"Yes, your majesty"

"And you can speak French"

"Yes, I can also speak Spanish and Latin."

Henry looked at the girl in shock. He hadn't expected her to be able to know four different languages after all she was just a lady of the court. Maybe on second thought he could use her as friend and as someone he could turn to for advice or to distract him from life as king.

 **Authors Note:** **so that was the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. I will try to have the next chapter up soon but I will have to try to balance it with my other stories so it may be updated at random times but I will try my best to update weekly.**


	2. Chapter II

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Tudors, or any of the characters that are in this story.**

 **Authors Note** : **Thank you everyone who favourited or followed this story. It means a lot to me when I see that people are enjoying my work and it helps me to stay motivated to write more chapters for you guys. Also big thanks to QueenAnneTudor, Stephannieteresea1 and Coerulea for taking the time to leave a review on the first chapter.**

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Jane Seymour, the next Queen of England, was sat in her new apartment. The apartments themselves were directly linked to the Kings chambers through a network of carefully placed passage ways that allowed no one to notice that she was slipping in to his rooms to spend the night with him. Usually when she did spend the night with him they only talked about one thing: their future. It made Jane smile to thin that she, the mere daughter of a knight had risen so high that she was going to replace the current Queen to then fill the spot herself.

During those nights the King often confesses to his love for her and while she always told him the same back (as she was instructed to by her brothers) she didn't mean it. She only said it to appease him and for her to keep her hold over him. She wasn't in love with him she was in love with the power that would come with being Queen and the fact that those who hated her would soon have to bow to her and call her 'Your Majesty'.

As she sat in her room though, she was trying to be very careful with how she carried herself. A few days ago she was given some ladies in waiting. Only two but she knew that was the crown of England was on her head her household would swell up but for now two were enough. The ladies were her sister Dorothy and another lady Ursula Miseldon. All three of them were doing needle work, a skill Jane thought necessary for any good wife to have, when there was a knock on the door. Lady Ursula got up from her seat to open the door and in came Janes brothers Edward and Thomas and her father John.

Her oldest brother Edward was quick to dismiss Lady Miseldon saying that they needed to have a family talk with her mistress. Once she left the room Edward turned to his sister and spoke "How are the preparation for the trip to France going."

"Well" Jane replied "It is all the King ever talks about when I am with him. He says he cannot wait until the divorce goes through and he has France's support so that he can marry me."

"Good, be sure to keep it that way Jane. Be ever careful to maintain the image of purity and goodness particularly when you meet with King Francis so that we can be sure that he will be ln our side."

"Speaking of your behaviour, we wanted to instruct you on how you are to act when you are in France." Her father cut in as he made his way closer to her before continuing "When you are there you are to say nothing to anyone as you don't know French, but you will be expected to say basic phrases."

"Yes, father." Jane replied.

"In French to say 'yes' you say 'oui' got it."

Jane gave her father a small nod of her head as she took in what he was saying "And to say, 'thank you' you say 'merci'."

Before Jane could give her father any indication that she understood what he had said to her younger sister cut in. "Father, would it not be a good idea for Jane to give herself to the King immediately after King Francis gives him his approval. It would enhance his infatuation with her and it would speed up the wedding."

John looked at Dorothy for a moment before looking at Edward who nodded his head and at Thomas who did the same. "Did you hear that Jane. Once you have Francis' approval do not be slow in letting the King into your bed"

Jane nodded her head and the three men left her chambers. Once they were gone she recalled Lady Miseldon and the three of them continued on with their needle work but Jane couldn't focus as she was too excited for what was going to happen. ' _Finally, all the pieces are about to fall in to place and then the whole of England will bow to me Queen Jane.'_

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Anne was in the Queens chambers serving as her lady in waiting. If this was anyone else she would have been mortified to be told she was to be a servant, but when it came to the Queen she didn't mind one bit because she respected her so much. Queen Katherine in her opinion was very brave if she was in her position Anne was sure that she wouldn't be have been able to remain so calm and stoic when talking to that wench Jane Seymour. But then again, as much as she wished not to, she and everyone else at court had to respect her as a Queen and soon enough that would become their reality.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head she returned to reading her book, since she had told the Queen of her knowledge of language she had been giving her some of her books that she had brought over from Spain. It warmed Anne's heart to know that the Queen entrusted her with her books and allowed her to read them. She didn't get very far into though as she heard a loud knocking sound come from the door. Anne put the book down and walked over to where the door was and opened it. Standing in front of her was one of the kings' men who was hold a letter which he gave to Anne before departing.

Anne closed the door and walked over to the Queen who was looking at her "A letter from His Majesty, your Majesty." Anne said as she gave her the letter and watched as she opened it and read the contents.

 _Katherine,_

 _I am sure that you are aware that I am seeking a way to end our marriage, I wanted you to know that I do this not out of a lack of love for you but for this country's benefit. As you know in the bible it says that a man who marries his brothers widow shall not receive any issue and although we have a daughter who I love dearly but I need a male heir to king after me. And speaking of Mary, once our marriage is dissolved Mary will no longer be a princess but since our marriage was in good faith I will allow her to call herself the Lady Mary Tudor._

 _Mary will be allowed to remain at Ludlow castle though and will be allowed to keep her household of ladies in waiting. You yourself will forfeit the title of Queen of England and will retire to the More where you shall live out the rest of your days. This is to be put in place immediately with you to be gone before I return to court from France._

 _Your King, Henry R_

Once Katherine had finished the letter she folded it in half and handed it to Anne who read the letter as well before putting down and moving to sit next to the Queen. "I am sorry for you your Majesty." Was all she could say as she looked up at her face which already had tears streaming down.

For many minutes the Anne and the Queen sat there in silence whilst Anne was holding on to her hand and letting her know that she was there for her. After a long while Katherine spoke up "It's her fault. That Seymour girl and her ambitious family. Surely, they know how fragile my health is and that I am soon to be dead, can't they just wait a few years!"

"Don't say that your majesty you will have many years before you." Anne said as she moved to tighten her grip on Katherines hands.

"You're right, I'm sorry. It's just that everything is falling apart and now my daughter, my beautiful Mary is going to pay the price."

"It is not all bad. He has allowed the King has decreed that Mary is to stay at Ludlow and keep her household, that means the King intends to keep her in favour."

Katherine stopped the tears from flowing from her eyes for a moment as she lifted her head to look Anne in the eye "Promise me that you will always look after Mary for she will be all alone."

"I will, I promise." Anne smiled sincerely she felt it somewhat unfair that Mary had to be punished just because her mother couldn't give her father the son he craved.

"Don't worry Lady Anne, for you shall have the help of good people like the Imperial ambassador and the Duke of Suffolk and his wife Mary. They are loyal friends to me and they shall be your friends too." Anne only smiled back at Katherine as she spent the rest of the afternoon trying to comfort her.

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After calming Katherine down the two spent most of the rest of day bonding together as friend. Anne listened carefully while Katherine explained more on her past in Spain and her coming to England to be its Queen and in turn she also listened when Anne talked about her life in France and the French court. By the time it was time for dinner Katherine had asked Anne to stop addressing her as 'Your Majesty' and to call her Katherine.

When it came to the evening meal Katherine knew it would be like every night. She would have her place next to the king of course, she was still the Queen, but he would have his little harlot on his other side and her family would be surrounding her. And all through the meal they would give her looks as if to say ' _we are winning and you can't stop us'_ and the worst part about it was that they were right. They were going to take everything from her just so they could put some uneducated commoner in power.

So Katherine decided not to attend dinner but she did dismiss her ladies so that they could enjoy the meal. It wasn't fair that they should suffer because she wanted to hide away, but as she ate her meal in private she wished for some company. Most of all Lady Anne Katherine knew that she was being truthful when she said she would look after Mary and she greatly enjoyed her company. She was unlike any of her other ladies in the sense she was educated, maybe she could use it to her advantage.

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Anne was sat in the Great Hall where dinner was being served, as she just a lady in waiting she was sat at one of the lower tables, but what surprised her most was the people at the top table. At the very top on dais were two thrones but only one was occupied as the Queen was absent but surrounding him on the table directly below him was the Seymour family. Looking at Jane for the first time she could she clearly what she looked like. Jane had long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, an ideal look for an English wife. But other than that all that could be used to describe her was plain. There was nothing about her that made her stood out and Anne wondered how such a woman could ever grow to replace a Queen.

"My lady" a man said as he came up behind Anne, which snapped her out of her thoughts. Quickly turning around to face the mystery man she became face to face with a man who she recognised as the Duke of Suffolk. Although she had never met him she had seen him at court multiple times by the Kings side.

"Yes, your grace." Anne carefully replied to him.

"I need to talk to you. Privately." He added before he shifted his eyes towards the door. Getting up from her seat at the table Anne walked out of the room with him and into the gardens. Whilst they were walking Anne saw an unknown figure approach the two of the but she quickly realised that it was the Duke of Suffolk's wife, Mary Tudor. Mary looked stunning in Anne's eyes she had a deep blue dress on and a tiara made from diamonds on her head to signify her status as a Princess. Mary turned to move away from her husband as she came up to Anne. At first Anne was worried that she would have a dislike of her but she quickly smiled at her and gave her a friendly hug and afterward started to walk with them

"Lady Anne, your one of Katherines ladies, right?" Charles asked her.

"Yes, your grace. Me and the Queen have recently become friends as well."

"That's good, she needs a friend like you on hand so she doesn't get lonely. It's at times like this when I feel truly sorry for her." Mary cut in. She had been fond of the Queen ever since she came to England to marry her older brother Arthur and then Henry, and now that Henry was putting her aside she felt pity for her. What was worse was who he was putting her aside for if it was a princess of a powerful country she could've understood why, but Jane Seymour was common woman. Marrying her probably hurt him more than it helped him.

"How is the Queen?" The duke inquired.

"Truth be told the Queen has been in a sad mood of late. This morning she received a letter from the king telling her that she is to be moved to the More and forfeit the title of Queen. And, to top it all off her daughter Mary is to be called the Lady Mary Tudor." Mary gasped as she said this.

"So it's happening. When is she to leave, Lady Anne." Mary asked.

"Before the King comes back from France, so two weeks." Anne sighed.

Mary went to make a response to Anne's word when they heard the sound of people approaching them. The three of them paused their walking and looked in front of them to see the King walking towards them. Next to him was his new love Jane and behind them was her brother and father. Anne presumed that they were there to protect Jane's claim that they hadn't slept together, but Anne doubted that her reputation could get any worse.

As they approached both Anne and Charles bowed but Mary didn't as was custom that the royal family didn't have to bow to each other. "My Lady Suffolk, aren't you going to show his majesty respect by bowing?" a smug look was on Jane's face as she said those words.

"Why would I bow to my brother Lady Jane." Mary took great fun at watching the horror that appeared on her face as she said those words, and if she thought Jane was stupid before this didn't help. Mary was at court often because of her husband so she would have at least thought she would know who she was but apparently, she didn't.

"Forgive me Princess, I didn't recognise you." Jane quickly turned her attention to the woman next to her "And who are you My Lady?"

"I'm Anne. Anne Boleyn, l am a lady in waiting to her majesty." Anne had to use all of her strength to keep her voice even, she very much wanted to slap her for her crimes against the Queen and the Princess Mary.

"So you will be leaving for the More then?"

"No, she won't." Henry cut in. Anne looked at the King in shock. "I with for Lady Anne to be taken from Katherine's service and to be given a position at court. For I believe this is where she will thrive."

"And what title will your majesty give her?" Jane asked with a pinch of jealousy. She would have to watch out for this Lady Anne now that the king has put his attention on her.

"Marquess of Pembroke."

"Your majesty does me a great honour, that I surly don't deserve." Anne said she bowed once more before turning to look at Mary and Charles, who both had a look of shock on their faces. After she rose from her bow the King and his followers continued to walk past them.

"Anne, did you see that?" Mary almost shouted "His majesty has taken to you. What are you going to do with it?" Mary asked. Anne took a couple of moments to think about what decision to make and then a small smile appeared on her lips.

"I will use my new-found influence to help Queen Katherine and Princess Mary." Anne declared. Both Charles and Mary had smiles on their faces as the heard her. Surely with all three of their powerful influences could override the Seymour's power and restore England to the true faith.

"Although it saddens me to say that Katherine can never be Queen again. Not even our power is strong enough to overcome the kings pride and he will never be able to say he was wrong about her." Charles stated painfully.

"Your right husband, we will have to find someone else to be Queen who is worthy of such a position." The other two people nodded their heads as they noticed that the sun was setting. Deciding it was late they went back inside and went their separate ways as Anne made her way to the Queens apartments to resume her duties.

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 **Authors Note: I finally finished this chapter! I had a case of writer's block whilst writing out this chapter and I hope it came out alright. On another note I have introduced Charles' wife Mary, I know that in the show she was called Margert but in history it was Henry's other sister Mary. Please make sure to review and I will see you all next time.**


	3. Chapter III

**Author's Note: sorry for such a late update I was out visiting family and I didn't have any internet or time to write. Also I wrote this chapter really quickly so feel free to point out any mistakes that I make. And I just wanted to say thank you for all those who have followed or favourite A Change of Fate.**

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Anne was sitting in the gardens with the young Princess Mary having a French lesson with her. Although England was not known for its sunny weather like other countries like France and Italy, sometimes the sun decided to smile upon them. Because of the heat most of the rooms were unbearably warm and Mary could hardly concentrate and Anne couldn't blame her so she took her out into the gardens to finish the lesson.

Looking at Mary Anne could see all the qualities for someone who would one day become a Queen, but unfortunately that future was cruelly snatched from her because some woman decided to play on Henry's fear of dying without a male heir. Anne laughed at herself as she remembered the first encounter she had with Jane. It amused her to no end that Jane, who supposedly knew more about Henry than anyone else, failed to recognise his own sister. Anne could have understood if Mary wasn't at court often but she was as the wife of the Kings best friend.

"Lady Anne, can I ask you a question?" Mary said pulling Anne out of her thoughts. Anne turned her head to look down at the Princess who was looking at her with curious eyes.

"Yes, Princess." Anne replied.

"I heard from some members of the court that my mama is leaving, for ever and that she is to no longer be called Queen and me Princess. They also told me that I was to be addressed as the Lady Mary."

Anne paused for a moment before continuing. In her opinion this was a conversation Mary should have be having with her mother but as she wasn't here right now Anne could only hope that Katherine would forgive her for upsetting Mary.

"Mary. You know how your father is trying to leave your mother." Anne waited for Mary to nod before she continued "Well when he comes back from France the divorce will be complete and your mother will be known as the Dowager Princess of Wales."

"The Dowager Princess? As in the widow of my late uncle?" Mary asked.

"Yes and because of this you will no longer be a Princess nor part of the line of succession." Anne told the young girl. Tears started to fall from Mary's eyes as she realised what all this meant for her future as Queen of England, a future that would never come to pass now. Anne pulled Mary close to her and whispered to her in a low voice so that no one else would hear what she had to say "But don't worry, you'll always be a Princess to me."

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Jane Seymour was pacing around her room with both her brother Edward and her father looking at her. Her older brother Thomas was currently away from court at their home in Wolf Hall, which was good for them all. The last thing they needed was for Thomas to say the wrong thing and to have all their hard work be for nothing.

At this point they had to make their plan work and now they were so close. Jane had been spending the past two hours having her things packed. All of her best dresses and most expensive jewels were packed. Although she could not speak French she wanted to at least be able to look the part.

"Jane you must be careful to keep the Kings attention. The King will not wait for you forever you must try your best to be the girl he thinks you are." Edward said.

"Yes brother, tonight there is to be a feast. During which I will try to charm my way with the King. The contrast between me and the other ladies should be enough to remind the King why he fell in love with me." Jane said whilst looking at her father.

"Also make sure to conceive quickly. Produce a son and then our position will be secured for life." Jane gave a nod of her head at her father's words as she drifted back into her thoughts. Once she was Queen and had given the King a son she would have ultimate power. Henry would practically worship the ground that she walked on.

' _Yes' Jane thought 'all was going to be well.'_

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Eustace Chapyus, the imperial ambassador, watched from a distance as he saw the scene in front of him unfold. He watched as Queen Katherine's new lady, Anne, held Mary close to her as she gently explained the situation that she was in. this was her first time seeing her and she lived up to what the Duke of Suffolk said she would be like. A warm kind hearted girl who was a good and loyal friend to both the Queen and the Princess.

From what he had heard she was to be announced as Marquees of Pembroke today so that the King could have and excuse to keep her here at court. That meant only one thing, the King had taken an interest in her. But unlike before when the King took interest in someone other than his wife Chapyus was going to do nothing to get rid of her. He could already tell from the way that Mary looked up at her that if she were to gain the Kings ear she would do nothing but speak in her favour and Mary needed that more than ever.

The Seymour's knew that, God forbid, the King died any bastard that they would try to put on the throne would have their claim challenged by Mary. The true heir to England. But if something were to happen to the girl, if she were to die suddenly, then their brat would be the only one in line for the throne. The thought alone of made him sick to his stomach but he doubt that they would do it anytime soon both the Queen and the Princess were still popular with the people and the Seymour's were incredibly unpopular. Of something were to happen to either of them they would most likely be the only suspect.

But looking at Mary now he could see that her lesson was over as she got up from her seat on the bench and began to make her way back inside for another lesson. Anne herself was now sat alone as she made moves to pack up the books that she had tasked Mary with translating. Before she left however he approached her and stopped her from leaving.

"Lady Anne do you have moment to spare please." He asked as he placed on of his hands on her arms to get her attention.

Anne turned around to face the ambassador and he began to speak. "My Lady, I know that the King has taken an interest in you. But do not worry I fully support you." A look of relief washed over Anne's face as she listened to his words.

"I know that you will only work in the best interests of her Majesty, but I must warn you the moment you will get your title the Seymour's will view you as a threat."

"Don't worry your grace for I have already thought about that. I have asked the Duke of Suffolk to ask his Majesty that when I am to be named as Marquees it is to be done so in the name of his wife, Mary Brandon." Anne told him.

"That my Lady is a plan that I have not thought of, you are truly as intelligent as they say you are."

"Thank you your grace." Anne said as she curtsied to him and began to make her back inside the castle.

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Later that evening there was a grand feast held in honour of Anne's elevation to Marquees of Pembroke. Few knew that was the reason for the feast as Henry wanted it to be a surprise, at first he was going to tell the people of the court that he was doing this because Anne was a good friend of his. Which wasn't a lie, over the past week since he met her in the gardens he had seen her many time either as one of Katherine's ladies or with Charles' wife Mary and she seemed to be on good terms with both.

When she was with Mary he and Charles would often sit down with them and every time he had a conversation he was struck down by her. She knew so much about what was happening politically even more so than some of the men at court. That was why when Charles had come to Henry and had asked him that Anne should be given her title in the name as favour to his wife and Henry's sister.

Henry decided to go with it because it also worked for him as well. At this point in time Henry had to appear loyal to his beloved Jane otherwise no one would take his quest to marry him seriously. Once they had finished their meals and the music was playing Henry stood up from his throne and gathered everyone attention.

"People of the court. I have asked you hear tonight to join me in celebrating the elevation of Anne Boleyn to Marquees of Pembroke. I have made the decision to do this to honour my dear sister Mary, who has found a true and loyal friend in her." The court erupted into cheers but Henry could already tell that Jane thought that he was going to make her his mistress. But even if he did she would have to put up with it.

It was his right as Kong of England to sleep with whomever he pleased and so far Jane was denying him access to her bed and as for Katherine he could no longer sleep with her since finding out that her marriage to her brother was consummated. He felt like he was sinning against his brother when he looked back on to his marriage with her.

But all that was quickly forgotten as the doors to the hall opened to reveal Anne who began walking towards him. Looking at her now she was every bit a Queen. She was dressed in deep red dress that matched well with her skin tone and had a necklace that had jewels that stretched around her whole neck. Anne didn't even look nervous as she approached him.

When she reached the throne Anne knelt down as was custom and waited for the King to tell her to rise, which he did quickly. A voice from behind the throne piped up and Anne knew it was none other than Thomas Cromwell. He was a self-made man and from what she had heard the Seymour's were against his appointment because they were rumoured to still favour the Catholic faith whilst Anne herself was a reformer.

"In the name of his Majesty, King Henry VII, King of England, Ireland and France. Defender of the faith and supreme head of the Church of England hereby grants you, Anne Boleyn the title of Marquees of Pembroke. This title is yours to hold until the day of Judgement where it will be passed down to your children and your children's children."

Anne turned around to face the court as they once again burst out in cheers, which died down in time. Anne spent the rest of the evening with Mary where they talked about various things. If Anne could've she would've checked in on Katherine but unfortunately the Queen refused to face the court and would only leave her rooms when it was time to leave for the More.

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 **Authors Note: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next chapter for A New Life should be up either tomorrow or Monday and I will try to post the next chapter of this story sometime next week. Please make sure to leave a review and tell me what you think.**


	4. Chapter IV

**Author's Note: To try and make up for the last chapter going up late I tried to put this one up quicker. Or so I hope so I don't when this will be up by. Anyway I received a guest review and I just wanted to answer I'm pretty sure that the royal family didn't have to bow to each other as they were seen as equals (near enough) but you were right about the fact the Mary would have to bow to him regardless because he is the King and has the highest rank in the country.**

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' _Today'_ Jane Seymour thought _'Today would be the start of something wonderful'._ Today she and the King, along with various members of the court would be going to France to ask the King of France to bless their marriage. It would be unlikely that he would refuse she had been told by her brothers. The French King needs England's support against the Emperor. Jane had to trust that her brother's judgement had been correct. Jane herself wasn't a very educated woman and new very little, but despite all that Jane knew that without her, her family would have never risen to what they were today.

It was her, the girl who most of the court had called 'plain Jane' and other hurtful names that the King was now tearing apart the country to be with him. She knew that Henry thought her an honourable woman which was why she wouldn't bed her until they were married- well that wasn't exactly true as she intended to let him into her bed once the King of France had given her his approval. But, if she got pregnant from that then she would just convince Henry to speed up the wedding.

But none of that was a problem now, all would be well. Jane felt very excited about going to France she had never been out of the country before and she almost felt like a school girl who was told she could take the afternoon off. The only thing that was bothering her was what she would do once she was there. Jane knew for a fact that she would have to make an official appearance but she didn't know a drop of French so all she would do would sit there and smile.

Jane bet however that the Marquees of Pembroke could speak French Jane thought bitterly. Ever since Henry had given her that title the whole court had become set on fire with one name: Anne Boleyn. If she was correct the rumour had said that she was a highly intelligent woman who educated in the court of Margret of Austria and had spent time as lady in waiting to Queen Claude before coming back to England. Thinking about her made Jane scowl at the ceremony Henry had proclaimed he did it because of his sister but Jane knew better he did it as an excuse to keep her here.

"Jane are you ok?" a voice asked causing Jane to look up to see her Sister Dorothy looking at her with concern.

"Yes, everything is fine why do you ask?" Jane said with the hope that her sister would drop the subject and go back to whatever it was that she doing. Unfortunately for her that didn't happen.

"No something's up. You're making the face you make when you're upset." Dorothy said as she moved to sit down in one of the chairs, an action that was soon mimicked by Jane.

As Jane sat down in the chair she placed one of her hands on her forehead as she let out a heavy sigh. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid that Boleyn harlot will steal the heart of the King away from me." Jane was almost crying at the end of her sentence.

"She won't Jane, she isn't even on the trip to France which means you can use that time to ensure you have the King's heart. And besides I don't think that Anne will even become the King's mistress if he asked her to." Dorothy told her in a soothing voice.

"And how do you know that?" Jane was almost shouting at this point. She had seen all the signs before when the King did it with her.

"Lady Anne is a dear friend to Katherine she won't betray her like that."

"Even if she doesn't become his mistress she is still a danger to us, she has powerful friends such as the imperial ambassador and the Duke of Suffolk and his wife."

"Yes but none of that matters as she has never been alone with the King and once you give him his long awaited son you will have the power to deal with her however you like."

Jane ceased her sobs as she looked up at her sister with eyes full of hope. Dorothy was right there was no way Anne would steal his heart, she had never been alone with him and the times he was with her either she or multiple other people were in the room. Maybe Henry was just elevating her for the sake of his sister.

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Anne walked toward the Kings Chamber's nervously this was the first time that the King had called her to his room for them to be alone. She was already resolved not to be his mistress that would be the ultimate betrayal to the Queen and the Princess and Anne didn't know if she could live with herself if she went down that route.

Approaching the large door she waited patiently for the herald to call her name so that she could enter which was when she was spotted by Cromwell who walked over to where she was standing. "Lady Anne, you have a visit with the King." He asked her.

"Yes Master Secretary. I believe the King wishes to talk with me about my new title." Anne was being careful with her words as she was in the middle of a hallway where unkind ears could be placed anywhere.

"It seems like you are gaining influence Lady Anne, be wise on how you use it." Cromwell told her with the same expression he always had. Anne was about to reply to his words when she heard the herald call her name and tell her to come into the King's rooms, so all she did was bow and turn away with the last sentence he said to her still ringing in her ears.

Anne walked into the King's rooms and instantly bowed, she had heard stories of what happened to those who the King had thought had disrespected him in anyway. "Lady Anne rise."

"Your majesty I-" Anne tried to say before the King cut her off.

"No Henry. Call me Henry when we're alone." Henry sternly told her as he gestured for her to sit down at the table. Once she sat down he walked to the chair opposite her and sat down in it. After a moment or two of the two of them sat in a comfortable silence Anne spoke up.

"Henry, why did you send for me?" she asked using his name for the first time.

"I wanted to see if you were as good at chess as Charles says you are." Henry told her as he pointed to the game of chess that was set out in front of them. Anne almost gave out a sigh of relief at least he didn't want to bed her right away, maybe Anne could use the time to show Henry that she would be suited to be his friend – someone he could turn to for advise- not someone who he thought as nothing more than a person to have sex with.

Anne managed to withhold her sigh and instead put a smile on her face as the two began to play their game of chess. Admittedly, it had been a while since she had played the game, since most of her time was spent as Katherine's lady in waiting since she got to English court. However because of her new title and the fact that the King obviously wanted stay at court she had been removed from her service. Anne felt bad because now she couldn't be with the Queen whenever she wanted but she still made the effort to go to her at least once a day.

Henry wasn't sure how long to two of them had been playing but all he could focus on was the beauty in front of him. Anne was so different than other women he went after, instead of making her his mistress as soon as he saw her he took the time to get to know her. She was just so different from everyone, including Jane. His sweet Jane she was the perfect English rose, everything that made a good wife she was humble and meek and often preferred sewing over getting involved in matters of state. She knew what the Queens role was to produce and heir. But however much he thought her to be an angel sent from the heaven all that seemed to dissipate the moment he looked in her direction and Henry wasn't sure what to do with his feelings.

"Checkmate." Anne's sweet voice pulled Henry out of his thoughts as he gave her a confused look before glancing down at the chess board to see that while he was entranced with thoughts of her she had won the game.

"Well do My Lady. It's not often I get beat but I love to have a good challenge from time to time." Henry said as he got up from his chair and walked over to where Anne was sat. Anne thought Henry wanted to lead her out but to her surprise he knelt down beside her to the point where they were level.

"Sweet Anne, please tell me that you will allow me to be in your presence more once I come back from France." Anne froze as his words rang through her ears and all she could do was nod her head. She felt like she was stabbing both Katherine and Mary in the back. She was so caught up in the moment that she barely noticed that Henry had moved towards her until she felt his lips upon hers. At first she did nothing but soon enough she felt her own lips moving against hers for reasons she didn't know. In the end the two only pulled apart because of their need to catch their breath.

Once they had pulled apart Anne moved back slightly as she saw Henry looking deeply into her eyes and suddenly it was like she couldn't breathe and she just had to get out of the room, so she quickly excused herself and left a confused Henry alone in his rooms to contemplate what just happened.

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As soon as Anne left the Kings rooms she ran straight to the Queens rooms to confess to her the grave sin that she had just committed, she had just kissed another woman's husband. She walked into her rooms to find her reading a book, but as she heard her approach she saw Katherine put down her book and look up at her. "Lady Anne, what brings you hear?"

Anne moved closer to her and Katherine saw the tears begin to well up in her eyes as she moved to stand on her knees in front of the woman as she began to plead for her forgiveness "My Queen I beg you for your forgiveness for I have sinned against you. Your lawful husband the King, I kissed him." She told her now crying freely in front of her.

"My Lady I understand, and as hard as it is for me it is probably for the best." Anne looked up at the Queen in shock "I know that there is no chance for me to win back the King, his pride would never allow him to. But if you were to become his mistress prove that you are the better option to Jane he will listen to you over her and her family and I know you will work in the interest of my daughter.

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Anne and the rest of the court were waiting in the courtyard for the King to leave for France. Those who weren't going waited patiently for the King and his mouse to walk out and take their place at the head of the party. And soon enough, the two of them began to walk down the aisle that had been made for them and Anne hated to admit it but Jane did look the Queen with her long hair that had been neatly tied up in a bun and she was wearing a deep blue dress that had a modest look to it. Anne couldn't look at her she had this smug look on her face and so did the rest of her family, the only thing that made this somewhat bearable was that Henry was looking at her with the same eyes he had looked at her with right after he had kissed her instead of directing his gaze to his soon to be wife.

' _I will become his mistress'_ Anne thought _'and I will do it for my Queen.'_

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 **Author's Note: I hope this chapter was up to par. What do you think about Anne's situation and the affection the King has shown towards her?**


	5. Chapter V

**Author's Note: two updates in one week? Yeah well, I was lying on the floor when the idea for this chapter hit me and it would not leave my head, but at the same time it was hard to get the ideas written down. I hope that this chapter doesn't suck.**

 **xLonleyDreamerx: thanks for your review. During the chess scene, the reason I decided to have Henry kiss Anne and not view her as a friend is because I wanted him to act like he would've done in the show. And I will try to include more of Henry's thoughts in the upcoming chapters.**

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Chapyus was a smart man, there was no denying that, but even he had been shocked when he was told that the Queen was to be relocated to the More. He would have thought that even though Katherine had opposed in his quest to put her aside, like any loving wife would do, he would have picked a respectful place for her to love out the rest of her days considering their marriage had been sanction under the pretences that it was a lawful union. A union that was still considered lawful by him and many other in the country.

That was why when he had left Whitehall Palace to go to visit her he was left utterly speechless, the woman he saw before him was no longer the powerful and respected Queen who had protected England from the Scots all those years ago, but instead a woman who seemed tired of fighting to protect her rights and had accepted her fate.

"Your Majesty." He addressed her as if she was still the Queen of England instead of using 'Your Highness' as was befitted of her new station.

"Ambassador Chapyus, what a pleasure to meet you although I wish we could have done so under better circumstances." She replied gracefully.

"My Queen, you must know that the Emperor will support both you and the Princess Mary if you decide to reclaim what is rightfully yours." Katherine gave Chapyus a look as if to tell him to watch his words before beginning to speak.

"I know. However, it is not I that the Emperor should be backing." Chapyus let out a shocked gasp, maybe the Queen was willing to give up her own titles in exchange for Mary's to be secured. He could think of no on else she would want to take her place. "The Lady Anne is."

"Why Lady Anne. I know that she is a great friend to you but why would you want the Emperor to back her instead of you?" Chapyus asked confused.

"You have been one of my most loyal friends Chapyus, but you and I both know that even if the King were to make moves to sit aside the harlot he would not come back to me. That would mean admitting he was wrong to divorce me and he is too proud to do that. No, he would look for someone else, someone who is young and fertile like the Lady Anne is." Katherine explained. She could already see the wheels turning in his head as he realised what she was up to.

"So you asked Lady Anne to become his mistress? So that she can lead him down the right path and restore Princess Mary back into his favour?" He asked, Katherine's response was a simple nod of the head. Chapyus knew how hard this must have been for her to do. Asking your friend to sleep with your husband, but he knew Anne to be a kind and gentle Lady as he had seen first-hand when he met her in the gardens while she was tutoring the Princess.

"I will notify the Emperor of this. And by the way how is the Lady Marquees?" He asked.

"She was well last time I saw her, which was when she had come to me to confess that she and my husband had shared a kiss." Katherine told her friend.

"They have already kissed? Well then things are moving faster than I thought and with the King in France he will have time to think about the situation, hopefully he would have built a desire for her by the time he comes back to England."

"I hope for that outcome as well. And as for her after I told her of her mission she said she would leave court to go to Pembroke Hall." Whatever else Katherine may have wanted to say was cut off by the entrance of the house keeper who told them that their time together was over. Chapyus gave her one final goodbye and exited the room leaving Katherine to think about what was going to happen. She knew right away that Anne would hold more influence than his so called 'Queen' because the King valued her opinion as a friend whilst Jane had risen power by promising to be the obedient wife. Which meant she would have no say in matters of state.

The ones Anne really had to look out for were the rest of the Seymour family, Katherine had no doubt that once the harlot was married to Henry that they would seek to stamp out anyone they viewed as a potential threat to them. But as she had learned all those years ago, unless you can produce a son your position is never secure and while Katherine never wished harm upon an innocent child she still prayed every day for God not to bless her with a male child.

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Jane was in absolute awe by what she was seeing, French court was truly a place of beauty. Because of her upbringing, Jane had never once set a foot out of England so everything she knew about French court was from gossip at court. Yet despite the beauty of the place it did nothing to pacify her nerves, if anything it added to them. Jane was being prepared to meet the King of France as both she and Henry were walking through the corridors of the castle to meet him in the throne room. Jane herself was wearing a cream coloured gown with golden thread laced through it, her hair was hanging below her shoulders whilst a ruby tiara was sat upon her head.

Henry too was wearing clothing of similar material as if to show the court of France that this woman was going to be the next Queen whether they approved of her or not. She could already feel the disapproving glares she was getting from people loyal of Queen Claude who had refused to attend the ceremony along with the Kings sister Margert de Navarre out of respect for the former Queen of England. But all that didn't matter once they got Francis' approval they could go back home and officially become man and wife.

The doors to the throne room swung wide as they walked into the room, every noble and servant stopped what they were doing to look up at the two as they made their way to the King. King Francis stood up from his seat and walked towards the other King and began to speak to him.

"Brother, welcome to my court. I hope that your stay here provides you with everything you need." Francis said in perfect French. Henry gave a reply to him but she had no idea what he said because he had begun talking in French as well. The two of them moved to go sit at the table that had been laid out for them and Jane followed she was completely at a loss for what to do so she just sat there awkwardly waiting for this night to end so she could go to sleep. The worst of the night for Jane though was when Henry had told him that he approved of their marriage and she had asked to sleep with him and he refused her. She still remembered the conversation in her mind clearly as if it were day.

 _Since Jane couldn't speak French she had decided to make the best of her situation by talking with some of the English noble that had come with them. It had been going fine until Henry came to her and asked to talk to her, when they were a distance where no one could overhear them he began to talk._

" _Jane, King Francis has just given me his approval for our marriage." That was all that he said but they were the only words she wanted to hear. Now that he had given his approval Jane was now able to marry the King and know that he would have someone out there to support her. She knew that now was the time her to strike._

" _Will your Majesty come to bed with me tonight then." Jane asked bluntly. She knew that by sleeping with Henry before the wedding her enemies would use it as ammunition to take her down but if she was being honest with herself she didn't care. No, the only thing she needed was a son. A son to be the living image of his father so that she may secure her position as Queen for life._

 _To her surprise though the King gave her a look of distain before telling her "No, not here. Wait until the wedding." And then he left Jane looked over at her family who had watched their conversation from a far. Jane could already tell she was going to have to tell them what happened and she knew that they were going to blame her for being too forward with him._

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Henry VIII, King of England was lying on his bed trying to think about today's events. Just the day before he had left England with a resolve to get the King of France to support him in his quest to marry Jane and now he had and the strangest thing had happened. Jane had given him access to her bed and he had told her no. If someone would have told him a week ago that was going to happen he would laugh right in their face but now, now everything was different. Right before they had left he and Anne were playing a game of chess which she had won and afterwards the two of them shared a kiss.

It was unlike any other kiss he had shared with Jane. When he kissed Jane he always made sure to be gentle with her in order to preserve her honour until they could be properly bound together as husband and wife. But when he kissed Anne the other day it was if they were meant to be, electricity passed though him as if it were God telling him that Anne was the one he was destined to be with. However even if she was meant to be with him he was now duty bound to wed Jane. If he didn't he would be the laughing stock of Europe: King Henry, the man who divorced his wife to marry someone else and in the end married a completely different person.

No. The only way he would ever get rid of her was of she failed in her duties as Queen and didn't provide England with an heir and if that was the case Henry could think of only one person to replace her. His Anne.

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 **Author's Note: so not my best but it was pretty much a set up for the chapter when Henry returns to England and realises he's in love with Anne. And, although she didn't appear in this chapter I did consider writing a scene where Anne goes to Pembroke but decided against it. Also let me know whether or not I should include Catherine Howard in this story by telling me in the review section. See you next time.**


	6. Chapter VI

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews and for telling me if I should add Catherine Howard to the story and here she is. Also looking at the reviews for the past two chapters there were a few guest reviews saying that they didn't want Anne to become the Kings mistress. Whilst this is a valid point I am sorry to disappoint you but for the plot of the story I need Anne to be his mistress, sorry again if that disappoints you.**

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Anne was standing outside of Pembroke Hall where she was waiting for the carriage to arrive that was holding her cousin in. When she first left court to go to Pembroke Hall she was amazed by the size of it compared to Heaver, her childhood home, it seemed to be as big as Whitehall palace. Right before she had left for Pembroke though, she had been approached by her uncle the Duke of Norfolk who asked her to take in her cousin Catherine Howard as her ward. As much as Anne would've hoped that her uncle's reasons for this were to avoid sending her Lambeth, but she knew that he was doing this so that Catherine could put in line for an estate that would elevate the Howard name.

No matter her uncle's reasons Anne thought it best that she took the young girl under her wing. It made Anne shiver to think about what would have happened to her if she was sent to Lambeth, here she would give the girl a good education like she had and she would become heir to her fortune. Everything was prepared for her and Anne even got her a governess as she knew she would have to go back to court sometime soon and as a result she hired Mistress Kat Ashely. She had originally wanted Lady Bryan, but the King had already hired her in preparation for Jane's son.

Shaking any thoughts of Jane, she had out of her head Anne looked up to see the carriage come to a stop right on front of her and Mistress Ashely. It was only stopped for a few seconds when the driver hopped down from his position and opened the carriage door to let out the person inside. Anne could tell right away that Catherine could potentially be a handful, she was such a lively child for someone so young as she ran happily towards her before stopping for a moment to bow.

"My Lady Marques. I am so happy to be able to live here." She said in the most even voice she could muster. In Catherine's opinion, she was very excited to get to live in a new home. On the way to Pembroke she remembered being told to be on her best behaviour by the Duke of Norfolk. He told her that it was a great honour for her cousin to take her in and raise her as one of her own.

"Lady Catherine Howard, it is my pleasure to welcome you to my house. Although I will be returning to court soon you will be heir to my estate." Anne told the young girl.

"Please my Lady, call me Kitty. It's the name my mother used to call me." Catherine liked her childhood name and even though she couldn't be called that in public she at least wanted the people who she was going to live with to call her that.

"Very well then Kitty. I would like you to meet your new governess Mistress Kat Ashely." Anne gestured for Kat to step forward so they could introduce each other. Once they had done that they went inside the castle to have their midday meal. Anne talked with Kitty and got to know her more. Anne knew that with a good education Kitty would make it far in life and would one day marry a man of good standing. When they finished their meal, Kat took Kitty to her room to unpack, whilst Anne went to her rooms to relax. She was reading a book for around ten minutes when she heard a knock on the door and a servant enter.

"My Lady Marques a letter has arrived for you." The boy said as he placed the letter down on the table. Looking at the seal on the letter Anne could tell that the letter was from Katherine as it used the symbol usually reserved for the Prince and Princess of Wales. Despite not being Queen anymore it was still within her rights to used that seal as her current title, however false it may be, was the Dowager Princess of Wales. Waiting until the boy left Anne put down her book and opened the letter.

 _My dearest friend,_

 _As you well know by now I have all but been kicked out of the palace and my true position as Queen to make way for the King's whore Jane Seymour and her bastards. It was with a heavy heart that I decided not to fight for mine and Mary's rights as I fear it will give Mary more disfavour by the King, who I still believe loves her. Once Henry returns to court I have no doubt that he will call upon you and when you go back you must be careful on how to support my daughter._

 _If the Seymour's see you as a threat in any way then they will just use their new-found influence over the King to have sent away. Matters of politics aside I heard that you have taken your cousin Catherine Howard into your care. It breaks my heart to think about what would have happened to her if she had been sent to Lambeth under the care of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, it makes me think all the more of how much of a good person you are._

 _Your friend,_

 _Katherine of Aragon, Dowager Princess of Wales._

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Jane was sat in her room with her sister and two brothers. Ever since they had come to France they had wanted constant updates on how thing were going with the King. Last night she was lucky enough that they had left her be after the embarrassing talk with him but she knew that she would have to tell them, and all hell would bell let loose when she did. "So, Jane the King of France has given you permission to wed the King?" Edward asked.

Jane gave a small nod of her head as he went on. "So, did you sleep with him yet?" Thomas bluntly said.

"No." Jane briefly looked up to see the angry faces of her siblings before she looked down at the floor and explained to them "When the King told me of King Francis's approval over our marriage I asked him if he wanted to share a bed. He paused before saying that this was not the place and that we would do that on the night of the wedding."

Edward was the first to make a comment on his younger sister's words "Jane how could you be so foolish. The King is doing this to make sure that if you displease him he can break away from you." He was so angry with her, why couldn't Jane see the bigger picture for once? Instead of having everything spoon fed to her.

Elizabeth spoke up against her brother "Edward, calm down. If Jane isn't a virgin on her wedding no one, not even us, would be able to call the marriage a true one. The only exception would be if she were a widow." How could Edward not see that doing this would play right into the hands of her enemies for them to try and turn the King against them?

"I hate to admit it, but it would seem you are right Elizabeth." Edward turned to Jane with a serious look on his face. "Jane, you must be careful not to get on the Kings bad side. We are so close to getting everything, is there anyone we should be worried about?" It was important, now more than ever, that anyone who posed a threat to them was disposed of.

"The only one I can think of is Anne Boleyn. She has yet to given herself to the King, but from what I heard she is good friends with the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk as well as Katherine." Jane bitterly said.

"We must be careful then. We have to end the relationship before it begins." Thomas paused for a moment before an idea struck him, he turned to look at Jane and said, "When you are Queen have her become your lady in waiting that way we can learn her weaknesses."

Edward ran his brother's idea through his head, "Thomas, that may be the best thought that you've ever had."

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Jane and Henry were dining together for their evening meal without the French King. The two of them had felt the need to be alone and King was attending to his wife Queen Claude. Henry was displeased to say the least when both she and the King's sister, Margarite de Navarre had refused to pay respects to both him and Jane. The Queen was doing it out of love for the Dowager Princesses of Wales and Francis' sister was protesting at Jane's lack of noble blood. How dare they! It didn't matter what Jane's social standing was as long as she bared a male child for England. Not to mention the fact that others would follow their lead and refuse to accept Jane, even though Henry's feelings for Jane were dwindling he still had to marry her and when he did he wanted to make sure that their son was accepted as heir.

He had thought that maybe it would be best to remove Mary from Ludlow, but he had decided against it. When he divorced Katherine, she had put up a fight at first but then allowed herself to be put aside so he could marry Jane. In return for that Henry had decided to be soft on Mary, and had promised that she would remain at Ludlow with a household of her own. Even though it had been reduced because of her new station Mary had nothing to complain about.

"Henry, my love may I ask you something?" Jane asked.

Henry looked up from his meal and looked Jane in the eye, she looked like she wanted to tell him something but was unsure if the answer would be one that she liked. Sensing her distress Henry reassured her, "Jane you can ask me anything, ok?"

Jane took a deep sigh before she gathered up what little courage she had in her and spoke, "Your Majesty I was wondering about the Dowager Princesses and the Lady Mary."

Henry blinked in surprised as her words hit her. In all the time the two had spent together, never before had Jane meddled in his affairs. "What about them?"

"I wanted to know their current whereabouts, your Majesty." Jane asked, she hoped that the King didn't take offence to her words.

"Katherine is in the More and Mary is in Ludlow." Henry replied quickly. He hoped that Jane would understand the message and drop the subject.

"But she is to be moved out, right?" Jane wanted to believe that the King wasn't favouring his bastard daughter or encouraging others that Mary was the rightful heir.

"No, not until you have proved your worth and have birthed me a son." Henry said harshly. He felt like he was getting to know the real Jane now, the one that would see a child suffer just so she can remain in power. Jane on the over hand was completely taken aback. Henry had never spoken to her like that, but she knew his words to be true. Until she had a son Mary was to remain at Ludlow.

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 **Author's Note: So what did you guys think. I decided to make Henry a bit more humane by allowing him to kinder to Mary because of the promise he made to Katherine, and also, we get to see a rift between Jane and Henry start to form. Stay tuned for the next chapter and make sure to leave your thoughts or any criticisms you may have in the review section below. Bye!**


	7. Chapter VII

**Author's Note: I had this chapter partly written out when my computer closed and I didn't save my work. So sorry if this chapter seems rushed to you I just wanted to back to where I was. This chapter I tried to make longer as well as xLonleyDreamerx suggested so its going to be somewhere in between 5,000 and 7,000 instead of my usual chapters that are around 2,000 words.**

 **Guest: I looked into it and I found out that to be a woman with a title can be a lady in waiting but she has to be of a lower station then the person she says and has to come from a minor family.**

 **Guest: That was a point that I didn't think about, thank you for pointing it out to me and I will try and put that point of view across in this chapter.**

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Princess Mary, now the Lady Mary, was in her home at Ludlow castle. Since the divorce her household of ladies and servants had been reduced significantly. Once there were so many people who were falling over their feet to please her that she could only recognise the faces of her closes attendants, now she could recall almost everyone because of how few there were. Thinking about those days made tears form in Mary's eyes, she used to be the most wanted Princess in all of Europe the peal of her father's world and now here she was outed from royal favour and labelled a bastard. Cruelly snatched away from her mother and left without the love of her father. Mary new however, that not all the blame could be laid at his feet. Yes, he had agreed to do all those horrible things to herself and her mother but only poisonous lies had been told to him.

The Seymour's, they were the cause of all of this. Her father had spent the night at that manor when he went hunting and he must have been bewitched there was no other expiation to his sudden change in behaviour. When he came back he put that girl of theirs Jane into the Queens household and from their her and her family of harpies worked their way up into the Kings favour and when he set his eyes upon Jane to make her his mistresses she refused.

Asking Jane to be his mistress wasn't what upset Mary, her mother had told her long ago that it was his right as King to take a mistress but it didn't mean that he stopped loving them, although her father was usually discreet with them towards Mary with the exception of Bessie Blount even though it wasn't her fault that God had decided to bless her with carrying the King illegitimate son.

No, Jane had to refused claiming that she was no whore and that her maidenhead would go her husband only. In Mary's opinion, and that of many other people that only made her seem like more of one. She knew how far the King was willing to go to get what he wanted but no one thought that would lead to him divorcing her mother. If anything, it was a stupid move both Mary and her mother were popular with the people and putting them aside would cause a violent backlash. If God saw fit that the King was to take another wife then he would have to wait until the day her mother was called upon by the Lord himself.

Thoughts of her mother plagued her ever since she was told that she had been removed from the palace and that was why she had called upon Thomas More. More had been a good and loyal subject to the King and a dear friend to her mother, if anyone knew what was happening he would.

"My Lady" More said using the title that was now hers. If there weren't anyone in the room with them who would report his word to the King then More would have gladly used the title that was hers by right of birth.

"Your Grace, how are you?" Mary asked with all the confidence of a Princess.

"I am fine, My Lady. The journey was a very pleasant one, but enough of that how are you faring?" More asked with a genuine concern for the young girl. If things were going the same way for her as they were the Queen it then it would be bad.

"I received a letter from Master Cromwell stating that I am to remain at Ludlow until the birth of the King's son by the harlot. My household has been reduced and I am no longer treated as a Princess but instead as the natural born daughter of the King, a bastard." Mary's tone was harsh as she spoke her word and no one could blame her for it.

"I will pray that the King treats you with more kindness, once he realises that marring Mistress Seymour was a mistake he will try and make it up to you." Thomas had to cling on to the hope that one day the King would wake up from whatever dream he was having and would see thing for how they really were.

Mary nodded her head as she listened to his words, "Thomas how is my mother?"

More paused for a second and gave Mary a look that told her that whatever answer she was going to be told was one that she didn't want to hear, "The Princess Dowager was moved into the More manor two days ago. It is located in an isolated area and whilst the King has given her an allowance to pay the servants with it's not enough for her to live comfortably."

Mary let out a gasp as her hand flew to cover her mouth, "But" More continued, "It is likely that once the King realises that she is not going to fight for her place as Queen she will be better off." As much as he wanted Katherine to stand up and fight for the truth and her right to be Queen, in the long run it was best way to secure her daughters future.

"Everything will be better if the harlot has a daughter." Mary said spitefully.

"The King will most certainly be displeased of he went through all the trouble of marrying her just to have another daughter considering how much he wants a son."

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Edward had expected the worse when he was called for a private audience in the early hours of the morning by his sister. Edward could only presume that it was something that had happened last night during her dinner with the King and if that were the case it wouldn't bode well for them. Jane had clearly annoyed the King when she was too forward about him sleeping with her and now with whatever she had done. He had been a fool! To think that now they were so close to getting everything they wanted his sister was going to ruin it by making stupid mistake. If Jane knew anything she would bide her time carefully and wait until she had a son, or at the least waited until she was with child. If she would have done that then the King would be more likely to give her what she wanted for fear of upsetting her.

Walking up to the door of her rooms, which had been placed away from the King's in order to prevent a scandal from arising, he knocked on the door and watched as one of her ladies open the door. Ursula Miseldon, she was one that they would have to watch as a potential rival for the Kings affection but they could worry about it at a later date. Edward walked into his sister's room and watched as she dismissed Lady Ursula so that only their other sister, Dorothy remained behind. The look on Janes face was enough to tell him that she had done something bad as she stood in front of him deathly pale and not daring to look him in the eyes. It was as if she were a child being told off for being too noisy.

"Sister, what is it?" Edward asked. It would do him no good if he were to fly into a rage as soon as he walked into the door, if anything it would make Jane lie to him to appease him.

"Last night I had dinner with the King as planned." Jane paused as she took a deep breath Edward was not going to like what she had to say, but he was the only person she could turn to, to help her, "But I didn't talk to him about the Marques of Pembroke becoming my lady in waiting as you instructed."

Edward shoot her a confused look, he knew that Jane wouldn't be this upset about ignoring his advice. Especially on a matter this trivial such asking for someone to be her lady in waiting that could be done once they were back in England. "What did you talk about then?"

This time Jane looked up to face her brother and she could already feel the tears forming in her eyes, she knew that from the moment she decided to bring up the Lady Mary that she had compromised the Kings feelings for her. Now he would be more inclined once they were married to abandon her bed in favour of some whore who would spread her legs for him. "I brought up the Lady Mary and the King told me that she was still in Ludlow and-?" Jane didn't have the courage to finish her sentence.

"And?" Edward asked. Now he knew why she was so afraid, how stupid of her! At a time when they needed Mary and her mother to disappear from the Kings mind she just had to talk about her. Even if Mary was at Ludlow it wouldn't matter as long as Jane had a boy. As much as the people loved Katherine and her Spanish daughter they would be more than willing to forget about her if they had a male heir to the throne. This was proven with little Henry Fritzroy, who the King had planned to make his heir had he not died young.

"And he would only remove her if I had a son, but the way in which he said it implied that I wouldn't be safe as Queen if I didn't have a son." Jane didn't even want to think about what would happen to her if she failed the King, she didn't have the love of the love of the people to support her and she imagined that they would be quite happy to see her gone as they would always know her as they woman who outed their beloved Queen and made her daughter a bastard.

"I wouldn't be surprised if her did want to get rid of you if you failed to have a son." The tone in which Edward said it made Jane felt as if it were something she should have known, "Your more than anyone else should know what happens to those who fail the King."

"Katherine didn't have a son and yet he stayed with her for over twenty years." Jane countered. She wanted to believe that if the King truly loved her he would wait years if need be for a son.

"Yes, but back then he wasn't obsessed with having a male heir. He had even named the Lady Mary the Princess of Wales." Edward walked towards his sister and place both of his hands on her shoulders before he spoke of her, "Worry not sister, once you have given the King what he desires you will have to power to whatever you want to Mary without the King batting and eye.

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 _Two days later…_

The English party had returned to their homeland in the early mornings and had spent the hours since riding from the harbour in Dover. Henry, being the King was at the front of the party with a set of guards in front of to protect him from any surprise attacks. Next to him was his closest friend and advisor, Charles Brandon. When Henry chose to go to France he knew that Charles was the only man he could trust to be with him and if he was being honest with himself he was getting a bit annoyed with Jane recently. He had first fell in love wither because she wasn't like Katherine, she pure and a true virgin and more importantly she didn't get involved with his affairs. Lately however, she had asked for the removal of the Lady Mary from Ludlow. Henry needed someone to talk to about this and Charles was the best person to do it with.

Moving his hors closer to that of his friends his friends and then began to spoke, "Charles I want you to be honest with me?" Henry asked.

Charles looked up from the dirt road ahead of them to look at his friend. It was a good sign that he would rather talk with him than ask for one of the Seymour's to ride up to the front and talk to him, "I would do all your Majesty commands and more."

"It's about Mistress Seymour, she requested that I remove my daughter Mary from Ludlow." Charles wasn't that shocked by what he had told him. He knew that they would vie for her removal as they would take a statement that the King still held some affection for his daughter, but he had at least expected them to wait until after the wedding since Henry still had the choice to discard her, a choice that he had no doubt would cause all of England to rejoice.

"What does your Majesty think about her request?" Charles feared what would happen to the girl if she were moved into a manor similar to the More. It was widely known that Mary didn't enjoy good health and the country air would do nothing but harm. Maybe that was the Seymour's plan, to have Mary succumb to an illness which would make any child of Jane's secured as heir.

"I told her that she would only be removed when she had a son." Henry paused as he thought about the conversation he had with her the other day, "I told Katherine that to thank her for accepting the divorce I would allow Mary to remain at Ludlow with a household of her own. Although our marriage was one of sin I still have a fondness of her after knowing her for so many years."

Charles was relived to hear that he still had good feelings for Katherine as it meant that he would be more inclined to be nice to her, "Your Majesty is a man of your word and as such I believe you should honour the promise you made to her."

Henry was pleased with the answer his friend gave him, if Jane was upset by the fact he wanted to be a father to his daughter, even one that was illegitimate, then she would have to deal with it. It was only because of him after all that she and her family had any sort of standing at his court and he can take away what he has given them without so much of a blink of an eye. Henry decided that once they returned to court he would have to talk to Edward about the behaviour of his sister.

"May I ask a question about the Dowager Princess of Wales?" Charles voice pulled Henry out of his thoughts and with a swift nod Charles continued to talk, "Is she to stay at the More for the rest of the days?"

The question caught Henry off guard. The only reason he had chosen to send Katherine to the More in the first place was because he had expected her to resist him until the end and by the time she came to him and said that she go through with the divorce the preparations were to far gone to cancel them. "If she proves that she is truly going to part with being Queen I will move her into a palace, maybe Beaulieu or Eltham."

"How can she prove her loyalty?" If Henry was considering moving Katherine into a more suitable place for her to spend the rest of her days then Charles would do anything to make sure that she had everything that she needed to do that.

"If she accepts that she is no longer a Queen and can get Mary to do the same, with the addition that she go two months without calling her nephew to help her then she will be treated as the honoured widow of my elder brother." That was all that Henry needed from her and in truth he saw no reason to cause her more unnecessary pain and it will make the chances of the people revolting against the King slimmer if she was treated with respect. The two of them continued their ride until a question came into head, "How is the Lady Anne?" Henry didn't have to say the woman's last name as both he and Charles knew who he was talking about.

"The last I heard from her was when we left court to go to France. She told me that she was going to her new home in Pembroke as her cousin, Catherine Howard, was to become her ward at the request of her uncle the Duke of Norfolk." Charles was glad that he had sked about Anne but the true test would be if he would ask for her to return to court.

Henry on the over hand was amazed, he didn't know many people who would take in a member of the family that had become to poor to provide for the whole house. Most people would have left them to suffer whilst distancing themselves from them, but not Anne. Anne took in the young girl and gave her a future she could've never dreamed to have. If only Henry had met Anne before Jane, at least then he could tell himself that the person he was spend the rest of his life with was someone he loved. Not someone he had to be with for the sake of the country.

"When we get back I want you to make arrangements for her to come to court." Charles only nodded his head in response, but in reality, he smiled at the fact that the Seymour's were on their downfall and they, for all how smart they claimed to be, had no clue what was going on and when they figured it out it would already be too late.

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The courtyard of Whitehall palace was full to the point where the people who were present were touching shoulders. All of them were expecting one thing, the King. No one however, was wanting the return of Jane Seymour. The only thing that kept some of the court members from praying that the ship to sink on they way back was that the King was on the boat as well and since he had made his daughter a bastard if he were die the country would break out in civil war and that was the last thing they wanted to happen.

That didn't stop them from plotting to remove her from power and if things were going the way they were they didn't have to wait long. Everyone could already tell that the King was smitten with Anne Boleyn who had spent an enormous amount of time with the Duke of Suffolk and the King and then when she was entitled no one was convinced by his reasons. The King had claimed he did this for is sister, and maybe that was part of the reason, but everyone knew that the King wouldn't single out someone like Anne Boleyn unless he wanted to keep her around.

Outside the gates of the palace the people could hear the sound of the soldiers moving towards then with the noise from horses and carriages coming from behind them. Soon enough the first of the men entered the courtyard which included the King, the moment everyone saw him they erupted into cheers celebrating the return of their monarch. Sure, enough the rest of the group made it in and the carriage that held Jane Seymour stopped in front of them.

Jane herself was excited to see the people cheer for her, or at least that's what she thought. The moment to door was opened and she stepped on the cold stone the crowd's screams turned into an almost deafening silence that made Jane's heart sink. She was aware of the fact that the people weren't too fond of her, but she had thought that when she was with Henry they would maintain the image that they adored the soon to be Queen.

Looking over at Henry she thought that maybe he would command them to cheer for her safe return, but he had already gone inside and had left her to be embarrassed. Perhaps this was Henry's idea of a punishment for her for speaking about the Lady Mary. Jane didn't have much time to dwell on the awkward situation as her brother Edward tugged her on her arm and pulled her to an area where they could have a more private talk.

"We need to find a way to boost your popularity, so that this never happens again." Edward coldly said. This was an embarrassment to the name Seymour and he had no doubts that this encounter would be the talk of the court once more people heard about what happened. Edward didn't expect the crowd to greet her as if she were the Virgin Mary but he thought that at least some would want her safe return.

Jane nodded her head in response, it was something she was concerned about as well, "What about the Lady Anne, surely if we brought her here it would only harm us? Mistresses of the King are often appointed as lady in waiting to the current Queen to give them a reason to be at court." Jane thought suddenly.

"When she comes to court as your lady in waiting you will be able to make a show of her to the court so that no one will want to set hands on her, not even the King."

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Edwards words rang through Jane's ears, ' _make a show of her to the court so that no one will want to set hands on her, not even the King.'_ Jane knew exactly how she was going to do this, she would watch the girl closely to find out her weaknesses and when she did she would strike. All she would have to do was start a rumour that would be powerful enough that not even Henry would be able to ignore it. Anne would be sent back to whatever place she came from and she would never bother Jane again. The dangerous thing about Anne was that she was both a rival for the King's affection and a supporter of Katherine and her bastard daughter.

The two of them were currently walking through the gardens which Jane had suggested, she was trying her best not to offend the King and to get back on Henry's good side since she had made such a mess of things during the past week. Henry seemed to be in a good mood as they walked which was a good sign as he would be more inclined to treat her with more kindness then he had in the recent days. Henry was telling her of the plans for the wedding which was to take place on the 22nd of November a day that was only two weeks away. Henry also informed her that she was to meet with a seamstress tomorrow to have a dress made for her, Jane her self had wanted to wear her hair in a bun which was when it looked the most flattering. That however was something she was told that could never happen, a virgin had to wear her hair down and if she didn't it would raise questions about her and give the King reason to doubt her.

This was the time to ask about making Anne her lady in waiting as they were talking about Jane's future as Queen. Gathering up what little courage she had she asked her question. "Henry may I make a request on who I may add to my household?" Jane put on the sweetest voice she could manage as she watched Henry's face look away from hers as he made his decision.

"You may." He said simply.

"Good then I would like to ask if the Marques of Pembroke would be able to join my ladies in waiting as my maid of honour?" Jane sucked in a breath as she watched his facial expression change. Henry was clearly not pleased by her request.

Why? Why did Jane have to ask Anne to be her maid of honour? Then a dawn of realization hit Henry like a slap to the face. Jane knew what she was doing, she wanted Anne to be here so that she could exploit her weakness and send her away from court in disgrace, very well then two can play this game. Anne was a smart woman, there was no doubt of that and if he told her of Jane's intentions then they could make her plan backfire and gain information against her, information that could one day be used to remove Jane is she wasn't careful. Henry's confusion soon turned to anger as he thought about the fact that Jane and her family would dare to harm his precious Anne, but he let none of that show as he nodded his head in approval to Jane's question.

The two of them continued their walk and Jane felt nothing but joy at her victory. Soon Anne Boleyn would be a name that was forgotten just as Katherine of Aragon would be and out of their misery she would, like her emblem, rise like a phoenix from their collective ashes. What really annoyed Henry about this was the fact that she was trying to stop someone from becoming his mistress, it was his God given right as King of England to lay with women other than his wife for he could not pass a pretender off as a legitimate child without others knowledge unlike like a woman who could do such things and were therefore bound to lay with only their husbands.

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 **Author's Note: This chapter ay seem a little bit too stretched out, but tell me if you liked it or if you want me to go back to the smaller chapters. Another thing is in the beginning I said that this was going to be in between 5,000 words and 7,000 words but sadly I only wrote 4,589. We also got to see more of a rift build between Henry and Jane, with Henry planning to use Anne's position to his benefit rather than to Janes. Also, next time we should see Anne's reaction to becoming the maid of honour to Queen Jane as well as the wedding between Jane and Henry.**


	8. Chapter VIII

**Author's Note: thank you for all of your reviews! This chapter we will get to see Anne being a lady in waiting to Jane and her reaction to it. I had to rewrite that bit a couple times, because I wanted to keep Anne in character. There are also some scenes that I have taken from ShowTime's The Tudors so just a disclaimer I don't own the show or else Anne wouldn't have beheaded.**

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Anne walked through the corridor of the palace as she approached the Great Hall where the entrance to the Kings apartments were. It had been only four days since the King had returned and she had already been sent an invitation to return to court and had been granted a private audience with King that she was to go to when she first returned. As she entered she saw some people look at her, but most paid no attention to her as she made her way through the crowds and the ones that she didn't want to be stared at by were of course the ones who did. The Seymour's. Plans for the wedding had already been in motion for months and now there was an official date, 22nd November and they were all trying to make sure that it went through without any incident. Personally, Anne thought if they were going to worry about her – or anyone else for that matter – they would do so after the wedding as it couldn't be stopped now even if Henry fell out of love with her as it would make him look like a fool and that was something Henry would never let happen.

But, as she was looking at them – Edward and his father Sir John – the looks on their faces were not ones that she had been expecting to see. Instead of looking sad or angry at her arrival they looked like they had just one a victory over her that she didn't know yet.

Turning her head to look away from them she saw Charles walk over to her and slightly bow his head, "My Lady Marques." He said.

"You're Grace." Anne responded evenly. This was her first public appearance in two weeks and she wanted to make sure that no one saw reason to complain about her behaviour.

"How was your journey from Pembroke?" It was a mere courtesy, but Charles found that he wanted to know the answer. After all Anne was his friend and also a good friend to the true Queen and her daughter the Princess Mary. It made him sick to his stomach to know that soon he was going to have to call Jane Queen and whatever children she had Prince and Princess instead of their true title of Lord or Lady as would befit a royal bastard.

"It was a pleasant ride, it would seem that the weather had been on my side. You're Grace." She was thankful of the good weather because if she had a delay she feared that she would miss the wedding between the King and Mistress Seymour. Although that wouldn't be a bad thing in her mind it may come as an insult to the King if she were not there.

"Good, and how is your cousin?" Pretty much everyone at court had heard of Anne taking in her cousin, Catherine Howard, into her care as she was also the niece to the Duke of Norfolk. Most people applauded the Lady's kindness considering that Lady Howard came from the poorer side of the Howard family. There were only a few, mainly the Seymour's and their very small amount of supporters who saw this as nothing more than a ploy to gain the Kings attention.

"She is well. In my last letter from her governess she told me that the young girl was able read and write well and by May of next year she would be ready to learn a second language." Anne stated proudly. The two of them continued to talk about what had happened to them over the past week with Charles going into great detail over his time at French court, and from what he said it seemed as though not much had changed over the years since she was last there as maid of honour to Queen Claude.

"Lady Anne Boleyn, the Marques of Pembroke." The herald shouted. At his words everyone around her fell quiet and Anne suddenly felt the eyes of the whole court staring at her. Not wasting anytime Anne quietly said goodbye to Charles and walked into the King's rooms.

As soon as she entered the room she dropped into a low curtsy and looked down at the floor. Memories of when she was last in hear started to flood her mind of how the two shared a kiss. At the time it felt like the biggest betrayal she could do to Queen Katherine, but now that she had her permission to do it she didn't know what to think. Some part still felt bad for courting another woman's husband but it was the only way to save the country from Jane Seymour and her vile family. She had no doubts that if they were allowed to have power they would destroy the lives of the people of England and then get rich off of it. Anne had already heard that they were try to persuade the King to shut down the Churches of England, and whilst Anne knew that some were corrupt and needed to be closed down there were many abbeys whose only goal was to enrich the lives of the people who came to them and show them the way of God.

"You may rise Anne." Henry said simply. If it were not for the fact that there were still some savants in the room he would have told Anne that she had no reason to bow to him, but he had to keep up the illusion that he only maintained friendly feelings towards her. "You may leave now." He motioned towards the servants.

"You're Majes- Henry." She corrected herself remembering the last time she had talked with him he had asked her to refer to him as Henry rather than use any kind of formal title.

"Are your rooms to your liking?" He asked. Henry had decided to give her a set of rooms to herself even though protocol demanded that she was to share rooms with the other ladies. He had no doubts that once she started her duties as lady in waiting, that Jane would drop subtle hints that Anne should be moved in with the rest of her ladies. If she did Henry would simply tell her that Anne's rank was too high for her to share rooms with the other girls – which was in fact the truth – with most of them the daughters of low born nobles and Anne being a Marques.

"They are very much to my liking." Anne smiled back at him. The rooms she was allocated to were almost as large as the ones she had come to enjoy in Pembroke.

"Good. There is something that I need to talk with you about Anne." Henry wasn't sure how he was going to tell her that she was to become a lady in waiting to Jane, after she had spent time as a lady to Katherine and had been a tutor to Mary she must have been fond over the two and won't be happy to serve their enemy.

Anne carefully nodded her head, sensing that something bad was about to happen, and let Henry say what he wanted to tell her. "You are to become a lady in waiting to Queen Jane once we are married."

Anne stood still as his words rang through her head. A lady in waiting, to Jane? Jane by now must now that Henry had been diverting most of his attention away from her and to Anne instead, besides even if she were too stupid to figure it out the rest of family would have picked up on it and told her. Once she stepped foot into her rooms she would be under Jane's commands and Anne could already tell that without Henry around she would drop the act of a virtuous wife and would give her the most awful of tasks.

Meanwhile Henry looked at Anne whose posture had stiffened up and whose face had turned white like she saw a ghost. Henry opened his mouth to talk to her, to do anything to break the silence that had fallen between them when Anne spoke, "Why?"

"Why what, Anne?" Henry asked, knowing exactly had upset her. Anne's reaction had been different then he thought it would be. When he had told Katherine something she didn't want to do had to be done, he was so used to watching her fly into a tantrum. At least then he would have been to make a reply to her word but he didn't have a defence against silence.

"What did I do for you to treat me like this, I want to know why?" Anne voice almost sounded like she was pleading with him. Hoping that Henry would look at her and tell her that this really wasn't happening and that it was all some kind of sick joke.

Henry said nothing as he pulled Anne into a hug, pulling her close. He didn't want her to think that he was punishing her for some type of wrong doing so he clarified, "I'm not doing this to hurt you Anne. It's just… it's just that Jane thinks that by putting you in her service that she can bring you down but you have to show her that won't happen. That you're the strong person I know you to be, and don't worry if Jane does anything to you she will have to deal with me."

Henry continued to hold her for a while, only pulling away from her so that he could kiss her fore head and reassure her that no harm would come to her.

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After Anne had calmed down the two of them said their goodbyes as Anne left his rooms in favour of her own. If she had any tears on her face she didn't notice and she didn't doubt that if she did and the Seymour's saw her they gladly assume that the King had told her about her new position - or worse – that he decided not go after and had instead vowed an oath of complete and utter devotion to the woman he was soon going to call his wife and Queen. When Anne got back into her room she lied down on her bed as thoughts of what just happened to her to free reign over her mind. Two major things happened.

The first was that she was to become one of Jane's ladies, the position she was given was not a bad one though. At first she was to be her maid of honour, which require her to be in Jane's service all day and most of the night Henry had changed it so she was to begin her work at eleven-thirty in the morning and finish at eight at night. Right before lunch and right after dinner. It was still a large part of her day that had been taken away from so that she may serve that whore, but she had gotten of better than most so she didn't have much cause to complain about.

The second was Henry's show of affection was the thing that shocked her. She had been so sure that once he had told her that she was to become one of Jane's ladies it was because he thought she had done something to offend him and this was his idea of getting back at him. Anne had been so relieved when he told her that his intention wasn't to hurt her, but instead proved to Jane that she was a force to be reckoned with. As she thought about there was some logic to it. Now she had a reason to be at court, Jane had just undermined herself by doing this. She wanted to stop Anne from becoming Henry's mistress right? She was a lady in waiting to Queen Katherine when the King first sought after her.

Her thoughts were cut off suddenly when she heard a knock on her door. Sitting up to straighten out her dress Anne watched as her maid walked up to the door and then opening it. She heard the girl whisper to someone who sounded like a man before she looked over to her and spoke, "My Lady, the Imperial ambassador requests an audience with you. What do you want me to say to him?"

Anne paused for a moment before giving her an answer, "Let him in." The girl focused her attention back onto the imperial ambassador and opened the door fully to let the man in. Anne watched as he walked into the room and looked around the room until both of their eyes met.

"Lady Marques." Chapyus said as he did a small bow to the girl. When he heard that she had been recalled from Pembroke to come to court at the King's wish he had immediately went to her rooms to seek out an audience.

"Ambassador Chapyus. What brings you here?" Anne asked as the maid moved to poor the two a goblet of wine each, "Come and sit down." Anne said as she walked over to the two large chairs that sat next to a small table, with Chapyus following her.

Once the two were sat down Chapyus started to talk, "I have some new of the Queen, My Lady." Anne immediately snapped her head up to look at the man, she hadn't heard a word of from her former mistress since she had been sent that letter from her whilst she was in Pembroke. "The King was talking to the Duke of Suffolk when he said that Mistress Seymour asked him to remove Mary from Ludlow. Luckily the Duke was able to talk him out of it as well as finding a way to get Queen Katherine moved from the More to Eltham palace."

"We owe a great deal of respect to the Duke of Suffolk for helping out the Queen and Princess Mary, but may I ask where the More is?" Anne asked confused. She knew of Eltham palace as it was once a frequent royal residence, but she had never heard of the More.

"My Lady the More is one of the more isolated manor's that belongs to the crown. It hasn't been used in many year and I have been there myself. The place is in desperate need of repairs. It's a place not fit for a Queen." Chapyus explained. He did not fault the lady for not knowing of the More, he himself wasn't familiar with until he was told that is was going to be the place that Queen Katherine was going to be sent.

"Then we owe Suffolk even more respect." Anne said with Chapyus nodding his head in approval. The way he made the place sound made it look like it wasn't even fit to house a low born night let alone a former Queen. "But, knowing the King he will want something from her in exchange do you know what it is he wants?"

"Yes, I do. He has ordered that once he and the harlot are married they and all of England will have to swear an oath to support the Queen and her bastards and for the true Queen and heir to denounce their rights." Chapyus disgusted by the idea of an oath, to make good men be punished for standing up for what is right just so he could have a boy sit on the throne after him. The only bright side to the whole situation was that he was no an English man and wouldn't have to swear the oath.

"Katherine told me already that she is willing to give up her rights so that Mary may remain in favour and so far that's worked as she is still in Ludlow, but convincing Mary to do so would be more difficult. Perhaps if I could ask the King to allow Katherine to speak with her personally or at the very least allow her to send a letter to her Mary would relent." Anne stated, as much as she knew it would hurt Mary to say that her mother's marriage to her father was one of sin and as a result she was a bastard and unfit to rule, it was the only way to ensure that Mary had her father's love. If you lost the love of your King then very bad things could happen to you.

"My Lady if you can get any of those things from the King then I am sure Her Majesty will be in your debt." Anne nodded her head in response his words, but as much as she wanted to help her friend her mind was still on something else.

"Is everything all right" Chapyus asked.

Anne let out a sigh as she decided it would be best to tell him, and it wasn't as if he would never find out, "The King has ordered me to join the new Queen's household, so I can have reason to stay at court."

"I offer you my sincerest apology, to have to serve that vile woman would surely be enough to crush anyone's spirit." Chapyus told her. The two continued to talk for a bit until Chapyus bowed to her again and left the room.

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Jane waited with baited breath at the front of the aisle, waiting for the King to join her there. Jane was slightly disappointed when she was told that it would be the King who was going to walk down and not her, she had spent most of her childhood dreaming of the day in which she would walk down the aisle to marry her perfect husband and they would live their perfect life. Looking back on that now Jane could tell how unrealistic that was. Even if she would walk down the aisle, the chances of her marrying for love were slim. Jane supposed she should be happy after all she was marrying a King there were thousands of people all over Europe who would kill to be in her position, but it still wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to be the Queen that woman would tell their daughters to aspire to in terms of virtue and kindness, instead people hated her and would whisper unsavoury things around her. Jane couldn't even walk into a room anymore without people staring at her and wishing that her father had chosen to keep his daughter at Wolf Hall instead of bringing her to court.

It didn't matter if she came up with the cure for the plague, no one would ever see her as anything more as the woman who replaced good Queen Katherine. The people loved Katherine and her daughter Mary and Jane went as far as to think that they would gladly accept her as the Princess of Wales and their next Queen. Why couldn't they see that could never happen? That by supporting Mary the people of England would have put a bastard on the throne, a pretender. It shocked her to learn of the then Queen Katherine had wanted to be Queen of England so badly that when her husband died she wedded her brother in law. She a devoted Catholic went against the bible and just to satisfy her lust for power.

However none of that mattered today. Today she would enter the church as Lady Jane Seymour and leave and the wife of the King, Queen in everything but name. Her brother had pressed her to ask the King when her coronation was to take place or to see if they could begin preparations for one. When she tried to ask the King about it he would dismiss the subject all together or give her some sort of excuse as to why she would have to wait. Jane may not have had an education like her brothers, as her father believed that woman should only learn things like needle work and etiquette, but she wasn't stupid. She knew that the King was refusing to crown her as an official Queen because it would be harder to remove her if she was. The thought that the King was already taking efforts to ensure that if he wanted to he could remove her before the two had even shared their vows made Jane sick. If she was being honest with herself though she had set herself up for a possibility like this. That if Henry were to tire of her he would be able to set her aside without so much as a protest from anyone, with everyone rejoicing that the person who had torn apart the country was gone.

The sounds of fanfare behind her brought her back the task at hand, she didn't dare look back but could tell that it was the King because her family who were seated directly next to her, with her father holding her hand as was custom for a father to give away his daughter at her wedding, tensed up. She could also hear the sounds of footsteps come from behind her and stop. Jane moved her head slightly to look at him, he was wearing a cream coloured suit with St. Edward Crown upon his head. Henry moved to look at her when he felt her eyes look at him uncomfortably.

"Jane." He said, Jan replied with a simple "You're Majesty." As soon as she said those words they both looked away from each other and to the bishop who began to speak.

"We are have come here together. Before God and these witnesses, to join in holy matrimony Henry VIII, King of England and France Defender of the Faith. Supreme head of the Church of England and the Lady Jane Seymour. And if there be any among you who may imagine some impendent as to why they should not be married let them now speak out or forever hold there tongue." The priest's words seemed to fade away as both Jane and Henry said their vows. The two kissed each other to signify the marriage and then walked back down the aisle to where the celebrations were happening.

Add a whole henry feel numb like it wasn't worth it.

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The day after Henry's wedding was a busy one as he knew it would be. There were arrangements being made for the Queen's household as Jane had dismissed almost every lady that had served in Katherine's household when she was Queen, instead she was bringing in her other sister Elizabeth and the daughters of those who gave support to the Seymour family which wasn't a lot. When the two had been married and went to the celebrations that were held in their honour the streets of London had barely a person in sight, and the ones who were out were either booing Jane or looking like the only reason they had come out was because they had no other choice. The only noise that could be heard was the royal precession.

In some ways Henry expected that to be the outcome but it didn't mean that his pride wasn't hurt. He was the King of England! At the very least people should have come out to see him. Even worse today Anne was to become a lady in waiting to Jane who had spared no time in doing that, as much as Henry wanted to pull her out of her household so he could spend more time with her he didn't want to rouse Jane's suspicions that she was his mistress. Why couldn't Jane understand that they had started out as friends? Yes, he was starting to love her but Jane was probably making things worse for herself by drawing attention to Anne. With most – if not all of the court – staunchly against her they would love nothing more than to seize the first opportunity they got to latch onto someone else who they could set up to be the next Queen.

"You're Majesty, I must congratulate you for your wedding." Charles said as he took a sip of wine from his goblet. Charles could tell that the King knew he wasn't sincere but how could he be? This vile woman had just replaced a Queen and made her daughter a bastard just so she could be the mother of the next King of England. The other two nodded their heads in agreement with Charles.

"When will the coronation for her Majesty take place?" Anne asked. She hadn't heard any news about it but she probably would once she went to Jane's apartments, Jane wouldn't have been able to shut up about it.

"At the same time the celebration for the Prince of Wales will take place." Henry said coldly. Anne only nodded in response, but on the inside she was relived. Anne didn't think that she could bear to see Jane be crowned Queen of England right after she married another woman's husband. "How is your family Lady Anne?" Henry said changing the subject.

"My brother and father are at Heaver and my sister is with her husband." Anne responded carefully. She wasn't sure how Henry would react with the mention of her sister, who had been his mistress for some time.

"They should come to court for Christmastide." Henry said. Anne replied with a simple 'yes' but in reality she was so excited. The last time she saw her family was when she left Heaver to come to court as a lady in waiting to Queen Katherine. She wanted to see the look on her father's face when he learned of her estates in Pembroke. The rest of the breakfast went smoothly and when it came time to leave Anne could already feel the dreed rising in her. She only had half an hour left before she had to go to Jane's rooms and she knew that Jane wasn't going to make this easy for her, in fact she wouldn't be surprised if Jane threw in extra tasks for her just so she could she her suffer.

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 **Author's Note: Alright so I know I said that I would include Anne being on of Jane's ladies in waiting in this chapter, but this one was getting too long so I decided to make it a whole chapter of its own.**


	9. Chapter IX

**Author's Note: I was going to have this chapter done a couple days ago, but my computer had shut down completely and I had to wait for it to turn back on. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

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Anne walked out of her chambers and made her way towards the Queen's rooms, she was dreading what was about to happen to her. When she had been one of Katherine's ladies in waiting at least the person she was bound to obey and respect was someone she looked up to. This new Queen, this pretender, surely new about her as Henry had explained when he told her about her new position and was going to do everything in her power to ruin Anne's life. At first, when Anne had learned about her new post she had wanted to cry and scream but now she wanted to laugh. If Jane used her head for once she would've realised that when a King took a mistress he often put her into the household of the Queen so that she had a reason to stay at court, just as Jane was one of Katherine's ladies when the King first stared to court her. No, if Jane – or her family for that matter as Anne was sure that her brother's and father were simply using her as ploy for more power – had any sense in their heads they would've tried to convince the King to send Anne back to Pembroke under the pretence that it would be best for her cousin if she was there to help her. Instead they had given her the chance she had been waiting for.

Henry was clearly infatuated with her and she could see why, Anne was the opposite of everything Jane was. While Jane was busy putting up this mask of virtue and honour Anne had been honest with the King and she didn't see why Jane wasn't as well. While she knew that the people in power hadn't gotten there by being honest and good people, Henry was the King and he didn't like to be deceived and if Jane sought to be Queen for the rest of her life there was no doubt in Anne's mind that Henry would find out and when that happened they would have face his wrath.

Focusing her attention on the task at hand Anne soon found herself in front of the door she had stood in front of several months before when she first came to England. When she was here the first time she had been wearing a dress made in the Spanish fashion and whilst she was never a big fan of the dress, preferring the French fashions she had grew up with, she would rather wear that than this boring English dress. To keep up the act of modesty Jane had decided to her ladies' dresses that were styled in the most boring version of the English fashion possible. The only thing on them that was worth anything was the pearls that went around the neck line of the dress.

Opening the door Anne walked into the Queen's rooms for the first time since she had been dismissed when she gained her title of Marques of Pembroke and Henry had made it clear that he didn't want her to go to the More with Katherine. She barely made into the room when one of Jane's ladies, Elizabeth Seymour, spotted her. Immediately the smile from Elizabeth's face fell and a frown soon took its place. It was clear to Anne that she didn't like her and to be honest with herself she knew why. She, like her sister, was a Seymour and the whole reason why she was in this place to begin with was because the Seymour's wanted her gone, but were too stupid to go about it in a way that benefitted them. Elizabeth stopped whatever it was she was doing and walked over to Anne with a smug look on her face.

"Lady Anne. Her Majesty, Queen Jane will be here any moment. You are not to say a word to her unless she speaks to you directly, other than that behave as you would when you were in service to the… last Queen." Elizabeth said the last two words with a slight edge in her voice. She had to be careful when talking about that old Spanish woman considering the King was inclined to let her move into Eltham palace and be more kind to her than he was during the last years of their false marriage. Looking at the girl in front of her Elizabeth could barely believe that this was the woman that her sister and the rest of her family were so worried about. Anne Boleyn, if she were correct, was hardly a beautiful woman by English standards. Not like her sister Jane. Jane was a true English rose with her blonde hair and pale complexion, it was what made her stand out in the first time. Anne on the other hand would be lucky if some French noble or English country man wanted to marry her. But then again, she couldn't underestimate her. Apparently, it was her charm and intelligence that was winning over the King and Jane simply didn't have those skills. Part of that was because their father believed that as a woman she shouldn't become involved in politics and the other part was that Jane didn't have a mind of her own. It seemed like she wasn't able to breathe without asking Edward or their father if she were allowed to and it wouldn't be long before the King got bored of her. Elizabeth was going to say more when she saw some of the ladies around her drop their heads low and began muttering 'You're Majesty'.

Elizabeth stepped to the side of the room to where her sister was walking and gave her, her full honours and respects that her rank demanded as Queen. "You're Majesty. I would like to introduce you to our newest member the Marques of Pembroke."

Jane looked up from her sister and moved to look at the woman who was standing near her. To her surprise she saw Anne bowing as deeply as any of her other ladies and she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it. This. This is what she wanted from the moment that her father told her that she would the next Queen of England, to see her enemies bow to her and come begging to her to forgive them for speaking ill of her in the past. Although Anne had never done anything to her face she was sure that when she and Henry were behind closed doors she was dropping poison into her ears about how Jane was the true evil and she needed to be dealt with in the same manner as the woman who once was called 'Queen'. No! If anything, Jane was the purest one of them all, she enlightened the King about the fact that his so-called wife was actually her brother's widow and that Mary who was being treated as the beloved heir to the throne was in fact a bastard and unfit to call herself a princess.

Mary was her newest problem. The people still held on to her and her mother as the true Queen and Princess and that issue was not helped by the fact that Mary still remained at Ludlow Castle which was the residence of the future Monarch. The only positive thing about the whole situation was that Henry had said to her that she would be removed once her son was old enough to go there himself. Jane prayed every day for a boy to secure her position for life and in some ways, she had made it worse for herself if she didn't. When Katherine didn't have a son in one of her many pregnancies Henry had never thought about removing her – until Jane came along – but now? Now if he wanted her gone he could do so with little effort because he was the head of the Church and the people would care less. In fact, they would probably celebrate her removal.

Quickly putting all that to the back of her mind Jane focused her attention back to what was happening, "You may rise Lady Anne."

Anne lifted herself up to look face to face with the Queen. She knew that it was probably out of place for her to look Jane square in the eyes but Anne didn't care. She wanted Jane and her family to know that Anne wasn't some push over or a person that could be driven away, if anything Jane was the one who was going to be driven away for her crimes against the Queen. Anne could tell that Jane felt uncomfortable as she continued to look at her, Jane didn't have the skill the hide her true emotions and at a place such as court that could be dangerous. Anne muttered a 'You're Majesty' before one of the other ladies gave her a task to do. As she walked off to go and complete her duties as a member of the Queen's household Anne let out a sigh of relief. The meeting was awkward, yes. But, at least Jane had the sense not to throw a temper tantrum at her. _'It's only a matter of time before she does though'_ Anne thought gravely.

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Katherine of Aragon was dreading what she was going to have to do. A few days ago, she had received a letter from the King telling her that she was to sign an oath that said her marriage to the King was unlawful and that only his children by the new Queen were to be included in the line of succession. It tore Katherine to think that her beloved daughter Mary, once called the pearl of her father's world, was now to be called a bastard and it was all because of Katherine. If she had not accepted the and blocked him from Jane long enough then maybe he would have tired of her and realised that she was not worth all the turmoil she had caused. No, she did the right thing. Her husband was man who would not stop at anything to get what he wanted and if Katherine stood in his way for any longer then she had then he would've taken it out on Mary. At least this way there was a chance for Mary to once again feel the love of her mother and father. Thoughts of Mary plagued her she had gotten no word of her daughter or her health and Katherine prayed daily for her to have good health.

That was another benefit to signing the oath. Katherine had been told that once she signed the oath that she would be able to move to Eltham palace, to which she had only been a few times before but it certainly be better than the dreadful More. Katherine knew that if she made the King happy he was far more likely to listen to her requests. Katherine's train of thought was cut off when she heard the door open and a man she had been privileged to call her friend walk in.

"Sir Thomas More. It is always good to see you, even if it means I have to sign away my rights to that harlot." Katherine spat. Thomas was taken aback slightly by her words but he could hardly blame her. Even the best trained dogs were bound to bite back if you mistreated them enough.

"I have the oath here, You're highness." Thomas said using her new title, "The King has decreed that once you sign the oath you will be removed from the More and taken to Eltham palace where you will reside for the rest of your day. However, if you are unable to convince the Lady Mary to take the oath as well you will be returning here." Thomas hated causing pain to someone as good and virtuous as Queen Katherine, but he was a loyal subject to the King.

Katherine stayed silent for a moment before speaking, "I… I thought that the oath was only for me not my daughter as well."

"No, You're Highness the oath is to be taken by everyone in the country. Many have signed, but I believe most are doing it to save their lives." Thomas could understand why some people signed, some were doing it to save their families and others didn't know that much about what was happening. There were only a few who took the oath and meant it. The Seymour's and those loyal to them.

"Thomas, you went to Ludlow recently so you have any news of my daughter or her wellbeing?" Katherine had to know if her Mary was safe before she gave away not only her rights but those of her daughter as well.

"The Lady Mary is in good health last I saw her. The King is keeping her in Ludlow until the birth of a son by the Queen, also that she is being treated as the natural born daughter of the King." It pained Thomas to refer to Mary as 'Lady' and Jane as 'Queen' but anyone could hear them and the last thing he wanted was for Katherine to be accused of treason. Katherine slowly nodded her head as she sat down at the table in her rooms that had a pot of ink and a quill on it, Thomas walked over to where she was and placed the piece of paper in front of her. Katherine barely read the words instead she prayed that God would forgive her and see this as a mother looking out for her only child and not a betrayal. She pocked up the quill that had been resting in the pot of ink and brought it towards the paper and wrote her name on it. Whatever happened now wheatgerm it be good or bad it was in God's capable hands she only hoped she had made the right choice.

"I have no doubt that the harlot will begin plotting against Mary the moment she hears of her victory." Katherine said bitterly. She hated the thought of giving Jane power but she had no other choice.

"If she does we have an informant in the Queen's household who should be able to tell us a head of time." Thomas said.

"An informant, who?" Katherine asked confused. The Queen and the King were the only ones allowed to decide who was in Jane's household and because of her unstable position as Queen Katherine thought that only the most loyal would be put in there.

"Lady Anne Boleyn, You're Highness." Thomas calmly said. He had met with the girl once before and found her to be quite charming, even though he disproved of getting her to become his mistress and one-day Queen he understood that desperate times called for desperate measure. They were fools if they thought that the King's pride would allow him to take Katherine back as his Queen after he had just announced to the world that she was the widow of his brother. Their best bet was to get someone loyal to them to replace the Seymour Queen.

"On the King's orders, I presume?" Katherine thought that Jane would straight up refuse to appoint her as a lady in waiting, but she was proven wrong. It was funny if it were Katherine she would have made her disapproval known but Jane was so eager to please that she probably agreed without thinking about it.

"Actually, the Queen wanted her there." Katherine let out a bitter laugh. It was only a matter of time before the harlot would be disposed of.

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Anne was sat down in the Queen's aparatemnt in one of the area's that were designated to the Queen's ladies. It had only been a few hours since she had arrived and she was already bored to death. Jane preferred do needlework and make clothes for the poor – an attempt to get the people's love that would never work in Anne's opinion – she never took part in anything interesting such as dancing and gossiping. And when she was not doing her needlework her family decided to pay her a visit to which they would always be behind closed doors. If they weren't careful people would begin to suspect what they were doing. Yes, it was normal for the family of the Queen to visit often, to advise her on how to use her influence, but it would catch some people's eyes if they didn't even feel comfortable telling her ladies what they were talking about. The only thing that Anne could say had changed for the better was the room. Katherine had covered most all of the walls in a dark tapestry which made the room feel dead sometimes. At least with Jane she had made the room look brighter and happier, even if the people inside the room were not.

Anne was currently sat doing needlework with the Lady Miseldon next to her. Lady Miseldon was the only person that Anne could even consider becoming friend with, the two shared some similar features with their brown hair and blue eyes which the two shared in common. Aside from looks the two of them had matching personalities which was the only highlight of Anne's day. Jane wasn't in the room with them, her and her two sisters had gone into the Queen's bed chamber under the guise that they needed a 'family talk'. Anne wasn't bothered by whatever they were doing. Like Jane Elizabeth and Dorothy hadn't had an education so the most they were talking about was idle gossip. There had been plenty buzz around the castle when the King said that once the Dowager Princess of Wales and the Lady Mary signed and oath denouncing their true titles he would impose that oath on the populace. Anne was convinced that Henry thought that as King the people of his country would accept whatever decision he made, but he would probably have to learn soon that the people weren't complete pushovers and they would be happy to rise and take back what they believed was stolen from them.

"This is so boring. Why does the Queen insist that this is a good idea!" hissed Lady Miseldon.

Anne let out a little laugh before answering, "Because apparently it is what a good lady does and a good lady will find herself with a husband more easily."

"Yes. Well I guess I'm never getting married then, because this is pointless." Ursula said sarcastically, "I have some news about the former Queen." Ursula whispered just barely above her breath she could imagine that the current Queen wouldn't like to hear often about the woman who she replaced.

Anne became curious about what Ursula had to say, "what is it?".

"Apparently preparations are being made for her to stay at Eltham. They say that the King ordered it to be completely refurbished in the name of the King's beloved sister." Anne nodded her head at Ursula's words. It was good to see that Katherine was being well taken care of, but Anne wished it wasn't at this cost. Whilst Anne herself wasn't the most devote Catholic and sometimes preferred the ways of the new religion instead of the Catholic men she understood how devoted to the old faith her friend was. To Katherine it would seem like she was betraying the will of God by stepping down and taking her daughter with her. Mary was her everything and while Katherine would want to make sure that she had the appropriate title for her station Mary's happiness was far more important than any riches she could have. Anne was about to say something back to her when she Jane and her sisters re enter the room. Both Anne and Ursula stood up and bowed before returning to their needlework.

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 **Author's Note: Sorry for not updating sooner. I have been busy with school work and I will not be able to update as much as I used to. It will be around once every two weeks I apologise for the inconvince.**


	10. Chapter X

**Author's Note: Sorry for posting a little late, I had to do a bunch of homework and I barely had time to write out this chapter. I just wanted to say before reading the chapter that there is a new poll on my profile that I would like for you to check out. Enjoy!**

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After what felt like a life time to Anne – and she could bet that Jane felt the same – it was finally time for her to leave Jane's rooms. She had been very lucky to be able to leave her rooms as most of her ladies in waiting had to stay with her through out the entire night in case she woke up and needed something. Anne got up from her seating position and walked over to where Jane and her sister were sitting, she watched as the two women looked at her as if she was nothing before she spoke.

"Your Majesty, it is time for me to leave." Anne said as gracefully as she could. She didn't want Jane to run her mouth to everyone that she was being disrespectful and rude to the new Queen, even though half the court wouldn't blink an eye at her behaviour.

Jane on the other hand was too caught up in her relief to imagine any slight or wrong doing, "Very well Lady Anne, I shall see you tomorrow morning." Jane was so glad that Anne would finally be leaving the only reason she had given into her family's demands was so she could find her weaknesses and exploit them, but so far Anne had been the perfect woman and everyone at court saw how she looked at her when she thought no one was looking so if she were to accuse Anne of neglect or some other crime she would have to wait for one to happen so that her ladies to back her up. Jane watched as the woman in front of bowed with all the respect one should give her as an anointed Queen of England, expect for the fact that she was Queen in everything but name. Henry had told her that her coronation had to be put back as the weather outside was getting colder be the minute and that Christmastide was around the corner and he didn't want the holiday to distract people from the occasion.

It was lie and Jane knew it, Henry was the type of man who would never wait for anything. No, if he wanted something he would take just as her took her when it was made clear that he would get no heir from that dried up Spanish whore and instead try to pawn of a sickly daughter as the next Queen. The only reason he would try to put off her coronation was if he did not want her anymore, it made Jane laugh to think that the man who had fallen head over heels for her and had made it his life goal to wed her now refuses to handover the crown and to make things worse he has kept his bastard daughter in the place only the heir to country should live, perhaps she should be grateful that her husband had ordered both Mary and her mother Katherine to sign an oath denouncing that they ever had the right to call themselves a part of his Majesties immediate family and from what he bother Thomas had told her Katherine had given in and if the past had given Jane any indication she knew that Mary would follow suit.

"Sister are you all right?" Dorothy said as she placed a gentle hand on her sister's arm. Jane looks alone told Dorothy what was wrong and she could already guess what the cause of her problem was. "Jane, you need not worry yourself over Anne Boleyn, she has only been in your service for a day. We will find her weaknesses and she will be gone and the King will welcome you back in his heart as a good husband ought to." Dorothy said in an attempt to comfort her younger sister.

"Even if by the time she is gone – that is if we can get her out – it will not be that simple to make the King fall back in love with me." Jane retorted as she put her needlework onto the small table next her and instead picked up a goblet of wine to which she took a small sip of.

"And why is that? Do you not remember how in love he was with you back when he first started to take interest with you, all the promises he made and look at you now? You are the Queen of England, the most powerful woman in the country and one of the most prominent figures in Europe." Dorothy couldn't see why Jane was upset surely once Anne was gone the King would act like nothing ever happened between the two to drive their marriage apart and he would love her tenfold.

"People only know my name because I drove the King of England to break from the Church of Rome and dispose of a very popular Queen, like it or not all of Europe hates me." Jane said, Jane liked to think of back when Henry first told her of his plan to divorce Katherine and make her Queen. At first she loved to idolise the adoring crowds pushing and shoving to try and catch a glamps at her and the baby boy she would have bundled up in her arms as she protected him from the cold winter morning, she had envisioned that the people would love her for all eternity from freeing them from the Spanish Queen and making their next King a child of pure English blood – not some puppet that would only ever speak in the interest of Spain – unlike the Lady Mary whose Spanish blood tainted her ability to make decisions that would keep England from becoming a part of Spain's empire.

"They will get over Katherine and in time they will thank you for what you did for them." Dorothy promised her.

"It is not just a matter of winning over the people, Henry he, I have reason to believe that he still loves Katherine." Jane splattered out. It was less heart break over the fact that her husband had lost interest in her and to do with the dangerous position it put her in. If Henry still loved his old wife then there was nothing stopping him from divorcing her and returning to Katherine and she was the one who had opened the door for that possibility to become a reality when she made getting a divorce so easy.

Dorothy however couldn't believe that, that was true in anyway shape or form. A man could not simply go though and hurt a woman as much as he did to the Dowager Princess and still have feelings for her, not after he declared that she was his brothers widow and that their relationship was one of incest and sin, "Jane calm down you're simple over-thinking this whole situation."

"No, I'm not how could the King be married to a woman for twenty long years and then turn around and say that never, not once he loved her during those years. That is unlikely even in most political marriages where the wife and husband have never met." Jane replied. Dorothy said nothing in response and instead squeezed Jane's hand as a show of support as she went back to her needlework these were all questions that were based on fear and paranoia and soon her sister would see that the is nothing to fear.

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Anne walked out of Janes chambers and headed towards her own, whilst she defiantly felt glad to be of their it wasn't because it was bad. More to say it was boring and while she did become friends with Lady Miseldon she found it overall to be incredibly boring, all she did was sit there and do needlework the only interesting part of her day was when it was lunch and dinner because at least then she had something to do and she was sure that it was no accident that Jane had chosen her to prepare and clean the table for both lunch and dinner they wanted to see her snap, but Anne refused. As much as she would have loved to see the look on her face when she showed her the reality that no one in the room save her sisters truly supported her but she couldn't. If Jane wanted to make Anne snap then Anne would play the same game and could bet that it wouldn't take long to do so given the look of frustration on Jane's face when she completed the tasked she had given her perfectly and without complaint.

It was as if Jane forgot that Anne had served as a lady in waiting to Margert of Austria, Claude of France and the then Princess Mary who were better people then Jane could ever hope to be. Anne knew how to serve someone and be fine with it, to have them insult you and to still do everything they asked of you right down to the letter. If Jane wanted to break her then she would certainly be in for a surprise.

Anne walked in to her rooms and quickly got changed into one of her own outfits before she asked one of her maids to take it down to the laundry room to be cleaned so that she could wear it tomorrow. The gown that Anne was now wearing was a simple one: it was modestly cut and sported the new French fashions. Even though Jane was trying to make it so that the old English fashion was made popular instead of the Spanish trends Katherine had brought with her, but no matter how hard she tried no one was willing to go back to the fashion trends of England that was ruled by the Plantagenets which brought back dark memories for many, the King included.

Anne left her rooms and began to walk towards Henry's chambers remembering this morning when he asked her to come to him when she had finished her duties to the Queen. Anne was glad that he still took an interest in her even after making her serve as a lady to his wife and whilst he had told her that he had done it to keep her safe there was still a little piece of doubt in her mind as she had no idea that if behind closed doors Henry and Jane's marriage was doing well and that she was just making her out to be a fool in love. Brushing those thoughts out of her head Anne heard the voice of one of the King's personal men announce her name. Anne carefully walked in and silently thanked God that there was no one around to see her enter the King's rooms unattended, it was alright when she was with Charles or Mary and sometimes both of them as it would only give off the impression that she was there as the King's friend but if she went in alone it would make more than a few suspicious.

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Henry watched as Anne walked into his rooms. He had already begun to regret his decision to place her into Jane's household as it meant that the two spent less time together, not physically but emotionally. Henry was so used to having sex with a woman before he even learned her name let alone got to know her but he was glad that he had done it with Anne, who he could tell already that she would deny him access to her bed because of her friendship with Katherine. He didn't blame her for that instead he respected her, too many people these days would gladly forget they were even friends with someone if it meant the could rise in power but again Anne was unlike any woman or person he had ever met and he was sure that she would be happy when Katherine was moved into Eltham place.

Henry would be happy too. Just because he divorced her didn't mean that every 'I love you' he ever said her was now erased from his memory nor the emotions they felt when Mary, their first child to live was born how happy he had been and she too. Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end and their marriages end came quickly when Henry had discovered that Katherine had lied when she said that she was a virgin after the death of her first husband Arthur, his brother. Growing up Henry had always envied Arthur for being older than him and getting better stuff and Katherine of Aragon was no exception that was why he was so distraught to learn that she had consummated their marriage it was such a blow to him that the woman he loved was really his sister in law and he was living in sin he could not in good conscious be married to her and so he sought a divorce and once she was settled at Eltham and Mary had accepted her position as the Lady Mary he would make plans to see them both and to beg for them to understand that he had no alternative and that the security of the country took a higher priority than matters of the heart and Henry could only hope that they would forgive him and that they could all live in piece to honour his late brother.

"Anne how was your day?" Henry asked her. He wanted to know every detail there was if there was an issue with Jane he would make sure it was dealt with he didn't want Jane ruing other people's lives just because she had some petty jealousy over them. She should know more than anyone that it is a wife's duty to grin and bear it if her husband was to be unfaithful to her which he already was. Not in the sense that he had been sleeping with other woman but in the sense that she no longer held his heart. However, he would at least attempt to not take a mistress so their marriage looks to be stable.

"It was okay. The Queen payed me no more attention than she would any other lady on her first day." Anne replied smoothly, she didn't want to create false drama with Jane because it would only be a matter of months before one of her family members fall victim to a scandal of their own which would taint the new Queen as well.

"Good, good. I expect her to keep up the good behaviour be sure to tell me if she ever does something to disrespect you." Henry warned. Anne only let out a smirk and the two began talking about anything that came to mind. This was something Henry enjoyed, when he talked of politics with Anne he knew that she would give him an honest answer because she was not one of his councilmen who always had something to gain by advising the King, but Anne was different. She was a woman and a woman had no right to hold money in her own name and Anne had so far not been married so there would be nothing she could do the only thing broke that rule was that he had given her a title in her own right which Henry presumed would be passed on to her cousin the young Howard girl even still Henry knew that Anne only wanted what was best for the people and maybe she was a little too friendly with Katherine for his tastes but her friendship with high members of the French could, particularly the Queen who could influence the King balanced it all out.

The two of them continued their conversations until there was a banging noise on the door and a boy who said that he had an urgent message from Cromwell. Henry quickly let man in as his fears began to rise, "What is it boy? What news do you have?"

"New from Ludlow your Majesty, the Lady Mary has fallen ill. The reports say she has a fever and constant vomiting." Henry's heart fell into his chest. No, it couldn't be possible! His only child of his last wife to ever live could not be taken away from him not as long as he had the ability to stop it.

"I want you to send Dr Linacre to Ludlow immediately, tell him that the crown will personally pay him for any requirements he needs whilst restoring my daughter's health." Henry ordered at this point he would be willing to pay every once of money he had just so that his beloved Mary would feel no more pain.

"Yes, your Majesty." The boy said as he quickly left the King's chambers in search of Dr Linacre. Henry termed to see Anne deathly still and pale, he knew that while she had been tutoring the then Princess the two had gotten close so they would almost share the same amount of pain at news that Mary may be on her death bed. The two stood there in silence before Anne slowly spoke, "Henry I know that you may not agree with me sine Mary has yet to sign the oath but I think it would of great help to her of she could have the comfort of a mother to heal her. Katherine would be too caught up in her daughter's health to even think about anything else and if you re that worried let me go to watch over their interactions and report them back to you."

Henry only nodded his head in response as he pulled Anne in to a hug and kissed her forehead. He couldn't argue with her logic both Katherine and he were similar in regard to Mary with the fact that they would drop any no matter how important if their daughter needed then. All he could do was silently pray to God that whatever sin he had committed that it was not great enough to take his beloved Mary from him.

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 **Author's Note: I hoped you liked this chapter. I tried to make Jane a bit more human and I also added in the fact that Henry wasn't completely over Katherine when he divorced her but anyways I left the chapter on a cliff-hanger and I hope that you enjoy the next chapter. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the review section down below.**


	11. Chapter XI

**Author's Note: wow… it's been awhile since I updated this story. First, I want to apologise for long delay it was a busy couple of months for me, I went on holiday and have been extremely wrapped up in my school work. I can't promise you that I will be updating this story and A New Life consistently, but I will attempt to.**

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News of Mary's sudden illness took the court by storm the next day. Many marvelled at how she fell ill so quickly after it had been reported that she was in good health by Thomas More, who was praised for his almost brutally honesty towards all matters. There was only one thing everyone knew was happening and was that the Seymour's were rejoicing in light of this news. Whether or not they were the ones behind the former Princess's change in fortune was up for debate, but in the long-term it didn't matter. If Lady Mary were to die, then there would be no competition for any of the children that Jane had with the King.

All these thoughts were running through Anne's head as she tried to process what had happened, when the news was delivered to them Anne had spent most of the night comforting Henry and squashing any fears he had about Mary dying. For all the talk going around that the King despised his only child it was obvious that Henry loved her. The only problem Henry ever had with her, in Anne's mind, was that she was born a girl and in Henry's mind he could never allow a woman to take control. Part of Anne understood why he was so fearful his own father had to win his crown on a battle field and before that England had been in a civil war for decades. The few women who managed to be Queen of England in their own right were demonized. In Henry's mind the next monarch had to be a boy, no matter the consequences.

The most important thing that night was that Henry had agreed that to let Katherine see Mary, a move that no doubt would make both mother and daughter happy. Anne's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, to which her maid answered, "My Lady. The Duke of Suffolk and his wife, the Duchess, are hear to see you" the maid said.

Anne gave a small nod of her head and allowed the maid to open the door to reveal Charles and Mary. The pair walked in as gracefully as a Duke and former Princess would be expected to and sat down on one the chairs opposite Anne, "Your Grace's" Anne began "What brings you here?" she asked.

"I would like to inform you I am setting off to the More to retrieve the Dowager Princess and take her to Ludlow where she will be able to oversee the recovery of her daughter the Lady Mary before she is taken to Eltham palace." Charles said.

"Thank you." Anne replied as she took a seat next to the two. "It brings me more comfort than I can say to think of the two of them together, I have no doubt that with her mother there Mary will make a full recovery."

"It is us who should be thanking you, Anne. Without your words of encouragement to the King he would have never have allowed this to happen. God – maybe the Seymour's would have even convinced him to remove Mary from Ludlow so that Jane's son doesn't get any infection when he's sent there." Charles stated bitterly. It was something that he had no doubt they would attempt, they wouldn't be able to see past the fact that Mary was only a child who needed the love of her mother and father and anyways he darkened at any thought that a Seymour and Tudor blooded boy would one day be King.

"I pray a day will never come when we have to bow to any child of hers" Mary added.

Anne nodded her head at her friend's words before replying, "Well I shouldn't keep you from completing your duty, Your Grace. Please tell the Queen that my thought and prayers are with her always."

With that Charles stood up and gave a bow, first to his wife and then to Anne as he turned around and left the room for the courtyard where his horse waited for him and a carriage for the former Queen to ride in once he reached the More's. Mary stayed behind in Anne's chambers for a while as the two talked about current things that were happening at court such as Thomas More's and now Bishop Fisher's refusal to sign the oath. It scared Anne to think about what might happen to the two of them, especially More who was one of the King's oldest friends and yet that might not even be enough to save him as Henry was a man who refused to make any exceptions if it meant a blow to his pride.

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Katherine was in her room reading, when the keeper of the house had informed her that Charles Brandon the Duke of Suffolk had come on the express orders of the King to deliver a message to her. Closing her book and putting on a table near her Katherine rose from her seating position to greet the Duke as walked into her chamber.

"Your grace, I humbly welcome you to my home. I see you have news from the King has Mary signed the oath?" Katherine asked with all the grace of a true Queen still.

"The news is about Mary, but she has yet to sign the oath. "Charles calmly stated.

At once Katherine became tense, "Has she refused. If so then please inform the King that Mary just needs a bit more time to adjust to her new situation and that it is my deepest-"

"That is not what the news is, your Highness" Charles quickly cut her off, "I have come to inform you that the Lady Mary has fallen ill and therefore cannot sign."

After hearing his words Charles and Katherine stood there in an awkward like silence before Katherine ended it by saying, "Ill, how ill?"

"The doctors at Ludlow cannot confirm the Lady's survival, your Highness. Fortunately, his Majesty has decreed that you are to travel to Ludlow Castle and oversee her recovery." Katherine gave out a gasp of relief when she heard Charles' words. It grieved her that her darling Mary was ill, but it gave her joy to know that soon she and her daughter would be together and that maybe once she signed the oath the two would be able to see each other as much as they used to back when she was Queen and Mary was both Princess and heir to the throne of England. During her time in exile Katherine had learned that titles are not what matter most in her life, it was her daughter. Katherine would rather accept that she was never Queen and love with Mary for the rest of her life than continue fight for the title she was destined for ever since she was a girl and just the infanta of Spain and Mary's birth right and be forced to live without her for the test of her days.

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 **Author's Note: sorry again for the wait and for the shortness of the chapter. I just wanted to get something out there for you guy and I want to thank everyone who stuck with me during my absence, please leave a review and tell me what you think. Also I wanted to say the poll is still up on my profile in case any of you wanted to check it out.**


	12. Chapter XII - Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

 **Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Homework has been piling up and I had extended practice for afterschool activates all last week. I have been working on and still in the process of the newest chapter, and I just wanted to say that I am all so thankful for your reviews. If you have any questions you would like to ask me about this story, A New Life, or any other story ideas you want me to try please put them in the review section and I will try to answer all of them in the next chapter. Thank you.**


	13. Chapter XIII

**Title: A Change of Fate**

 **Summary: Based on the what-if story in which when Anne came back from France in 1528 she came back to a court in turmoil. The King has sought to divorce his wife, Katherine of Aragon, and very popular Queen and replace her with the Lady Jane Seymour the daughter of a knight. Will Jane remain Queen and have a healthy son or will Anne put an end to her?**

 **Word count: 5977**

 **Rating: K+**

 **Author's Note: Chapter XIII is finally here. Sorry for not being able to update sooner as explained in the author's note yesterday. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and I want to thank everyone who has been reviewing previous chapters.**

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Katherine had barely been able to sleep that night, her dreams were marred with images of her beloved daughter Mary. In those dreams she envisioned arriving to Ludlow to have her precious daughter Mary already be dead and telling her that she had arrived too late to help her – or even to say goodbye – and that she was to return to the More immediately. Katherine had woken up in a cold sweat multiple times thinking about the possibility that her Mary, the only source of happiness in her life now was gone, her life snuffed out as quickly as a candle flame.

Since Katherine could not sleep she quietly rose from her bed, awakening only Maria de Salinas who had been sleeping at the foot of her bed in case her Mistress required anything, and made her way to the small prayer room that had been set up for her in the More. Katherine had been aware of the chapel at the More, but she had refused to pray their once the Lord of the house had changed the chapel to be in line with the Kings new religion. It went against her conscious and beliefs as a faithful Catholic to do such a thing so she had settled for a smaller more Catholic room of prayer were she could speak to the one true God without risking her immortal soul.

Katherine lost track of time as she and Maria continued to pray for Mary's survival. She was scarcely aware of the light of the sun that began to spill into the windows of the room and was less aware of when one of the ladies of the More came into the room with a plate of fruits, fresh bread and two goblets of wine for her and Maria. Only when Charles entered the chapel begging forgiveness, but they would soon be off did Katherine rise. She thanked Charles and returned to her rooms where Maria and Lady Elizabeth helped dressed her in a manner that would have befitted her old station as Queen, though Katherine still knew the truth even if Henry chose to ignore it that she was his true wife and Mary his true heir and only once she was dead could henry remarry and father more legitimate children, and made her way to the courtyard.

"You're Highness" Charles warmly greeted the former Queen of England and now Dowager Princess of Wales as she approached him.

"You're Grace" Katherine replied back with equal warmth, "I trust that we will be off shortly, I am most eager to see my daughter and to help nurse her back to health."

Charles gave a swift nod of his head as he directed his gaze towards the carriage that stood near the gates, "The men are making the final preparations for the journey Ludlow is a long ride and they are predicting the journey to take a couple days."

"I will go wait in the carriage then, You're Grace." Katherine turned to her left and signalled to Maria to accompany her while her other ladies went to the carriage directly behind hers.

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Jane's chambers were the same that they always were in the mornings. Dorothy Seymour, Jane's chief lady-in-waiting, was giving out orders to some of the ladies – mostly the lower ranking one as not to insult any powerful nobles – to prepare the Queen's outer chamber for breakfast and the activities of the day, which weren't anything much Anne thought bitterly. When she had been in Katherine's household as one of her ladies-in-waiting she did much of the same thing that she did here now in Jane's household but it didn't feel the same. With Katherine there was the sense that she made shirts for the poor and attended mass for often than anyone else in court because was truly committed to fulfilling her role and duty as Queen of England even if she was failing in one of her most important tasks, producing an heir to one day succeed his father as King of England and keep the house of Tudor strong.

Since Jane had become Queen her brothers made frequent visits, which had started to become more common in the recent days as the King was less inclined to show her favour and to that extent her family which had expected to gain many rewards for pushing a much loved Queen off the throne so that they could take that power for themselves. Whenever they came in they always found a way, even if the conversation had nothing to do with it, to remind everyone that Jane was the one true wife of the King and never referred to Katherine as 'his previous wife' or 'the old Queen' instead choosing to call her the Dowager Princess of Wales which even then they could barely call her that as it sill included her into the royal family.

"Lady Anne" Dorothy said as Anne quickly focused her attention on the woman in front of her, "I would like you to see to it that the bowls for Her Majesty to wash her hands with are sufficiently warm. Her Majesty prefers the water to be slightly colder than warm."

Anne gave a shallow bow to Dorothy as she was required to give to the chief lady-in-waiting and quickly went to her task, picking up the bowl of boiling water and carefully pouring some water with ice in to balance the temperature out. Dorothy watched as Anne performed her task was rising frustration, they clearly weren't going to get her to do anything that would cause a scandal and force her to remove herself from court so that the King could focus his attention on his wife as was right and proper.

Behind the thick curtain that separated Jane's outer chamber with that of her bed chamber her sister and lady-in-waiting, Elizabeth, was helping her dress into one of her finest gowns. Today was a very important morning for Jane as the King was visiting her to break his fast with her, it was also her last chance to convince the King to refuse Katherine permission to visit that bastard daughter of hers the _Lady_ Mary as surely such a meeting could produce nothing but trouble for her especially if Henry was warming towards Katherine as he had been of late and wanted to continue to do so. Allowing such a thing to occur was something that could not happen, she all too clearly remembered how Edward had berated her for letting this happen, as if it were her wish she see those two reunited when Jane would rather see them both dead and out of the way.

Flash back

 _Jane was sat in her chambers with her ladies-in-waiting sewing garments for the poorer people of England who could not afford to buy such a thing themselves. This was one of the activities she partook in more and more frequently since she had become official wife to the King, even though she would rather sow embroidery it was a sacrifice that was necessary to make. Her popularity was at an all-time low since Henry had made it clear to the court that he was making himself free of his so-called 'wife', Katherine of Aragon, who had needlessly and cruelly kept the good King Henry in an incestuous and unlawful marriage and that she was determined to place her bastard daughter Mary on the throne as a mouth piece of her cousin the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V._

 _Back in those days Jane couldn't understand why she would block the King from obtaining the male heir that the country was in such desperate need of, she thought Katherine a very selfish woman – on who was unable to see that this had to happen and instead clung on to her belief that it was her God given duty to rule the good English people as their Queen, Ha, is if God wanted the country to erupt into another civil war and take away another generation of people who were forced to choose between Katherine's girl and whatever blood connection to the King the other side had – but now she, the one and only wife of the King, could understand. The power. Jane knew that the only way to secure her position as Queen and therefore her position of power then she need only present the King with a healthy male heir to be Prince of Wales._

 _However all that had changed. Mary was ill. On death's door the messenger who came bearing the news had told them, that she had a fever with constant vomiting and was soon to depart of the world of the living. When Jane was told such news her surprise was genuine, she knew that the Lady Mary was not one who enjoyed good health but Ludlow had been a place where she had never fallen ill, and she played her part perfectly and to the letter as her ladies-in-waiting were watching her. She feigned sympathy and vowed that she would pray every day for the Lady's swift recovery and swore that her ladies would follow her example, even as she spoke her words some of her ladies faces morphed into an expression that said: 'Do you really intend to pray for her survival or for her doom? Do you pray for her to die so that any child of yours will not be threatened by her mere presence as she is the daughter and granddaughter of monarchs and yours will have its legitimacy called into to question before it is even born?'_

 _Jane tried hard to act as though she was truly concerned with Mary's health and that of her recovery but she knew that the questions in the eyes of those around her were true full, that she a woman who had always boasted modesty and kindness to all those around her would pray for the death of her rivals daughter. It was not as if Jane had tempered with Mary in any way shape or form – as she expected halt the court to think that her sudden illness was brought on by Jane or her family – she had done nothing to induce the Lady into falling ill, but news of her maybe impending death was not one of heartbreak to Jane. Once Mary was dead the line of succession would be clear for her son. The only other factor was Fitzroy, the Kings son by Bessie Blount, who was a Duke twice over and could pose a threat to her son. Perhaps once her son was born she could persuade Henry to lessen his titles, claiming that a bastard should not be as well of as the true and legitimate son of the King or maybe she could convince Henry to send Fitzroy away into the countryside to be forgotten about at the very least._

 _Jane had no time to ponder such thoughts for much longer as her oldest brother, Edward the newly created Earl of Hertford, walked into her rooms demanding to speak to the Queen alone. Of course custom dictated that no man except the King – of course – should be completely alone with the Queen of England, lest they be accused of adultery or in this case incest with the Queen, so Jane's two sisters, Elizabeth and Dorothy remained seated as the rest of her ladies quietly left the room to return to their allocated quarters._

" _Dear sister" Edward began once he was sure that no unkind ears could be listening into their conversation, "As I am sure you have heard the Lady Mary has fallen deeply ill at Ludlow castle."_

" _Yes, I was informed the same night as the King was. It's such a shame, it would be deeply disappointing if she were to die now before she had the chance to meet her legitimate brother." The edge in Jane's voice was lost on no one in the room as they nodded their head in a silent agreement._

" _Yes well, perhaps this way we won't have to… meddle with her after all" The last part of his sentence was barely that of a whisper as what he was saying could be considered treason depending on what mood the King was in. "Anyway enough of that. I have come to talk with you about a different matter, one that could prove to be disastrous to us if it is allowed to be followed through with. Do you know what I speak of, sister?"_

 _Jane gave him a look that told him that she didn't understand a word of what he was saying, that he might have had better hope to saying it in French to her, and while he was frustrated he couldn't blame her. Her female mind made her weaker than her male counterparts and it was only natural for a woman to stay out of politics and focus her simple mind on tasks better suited for her._

" _The King had agreed to allow the Dowager Princess of Wales to travel to Ludlow and nurse her bastard daughter back to health, which for we know her illness could be a ruse to give her a chance to plan with her Spanish cousin the Emperor. And while all that is happening you dear sister sit before me with an empty womb." Edward was almost at the point of shouting and Jane could focus on nothing else but his words. Katherine was traveling to Ludlow? To see Mary? And Henry had allowed it? God only knows what those two would be plotting together but there was only one thing that Jane was certain none of this would be good for her._

End flash back

"Why? Why do you think he did this?" Jane said absently as she looked up to see the confused look on her sister's face. "Allowing Katherine to visit that Spanish bastard of hers the Lady Mary." Jane elaborated.

"I don't know" Elizabeth replied honestly. "While His Majesty has done the right thing in making her a bastard, as it would not do good to allow a bastard born child to assume the titles that should be given to a legitimate child, he may still remember the time she called herself Princess of Wales and is only doing this as an act of kindness towards the girl. I am sure that once she is better Katherine will be taken away from Ludlow castle and put back in the Moor."

"But not for long. When Katherine signed the Oath the King promised to treat her with more kindness; to allow her to move into Eltham Palace and if her daughter signs to permit her to host the Lady Mary. Don't you see he is falling back in love with her, and it's all _her_ fault!" Jane spat furiously, how could the King her husband not see what they were doing? That they were using the same tricks that Katherine had used when her first husband died in order to deceive Henry into wedding her under the guise that she loved him when all she really loved was the power and the crown on top his head.

"Her fault? Whose fault, Katherine's? Or the Lady Mary's, Jane she can't help being ill if her illness is a true one as they say it is." Elizabeth gently told her sister. She and Dorothy often had to deal with such things as this, since Jane had become Queen of England she had been madly paranoid that something bad was looming over her shoulders. It didn't help matters much when the King had outright refused to coronate her and make her a true Queen or that her brothers Edward and Thomas came into the Queens rooms at least once a week to tell her everything that she was doing wrong with no suggestions on how to make the problem better. This breakfast was a good opportunity for Jane as it was the last chance she had at convincing the King to abandon his plan of allowing Katherine and her daughter to meet. Maybe once the King saw her he would remember that it would be for the best if he never allowed the two to meet again and focused his attentions on his wife as any good husband ought too.

"The Lady Anne of course!" Jane all but screamed, "It is widely known that she and the blasted Duke of Suffolk and his wife meet and talk quite frequently. The King dismisses it as a relationship of friends or some sort but many rumour that the Duke and his wife often leave the King and her alone so that they can be in private."

Elizabeth, quick to grasp what she was saying turned to look Jane in the eyes and began speaking, "Honestly Jane you have nothing to worry about with her. She is interesting I'll give you that, but she is nothing compared to you and besides once you have a son the King will never look anywhere else; he'll have no need to."

Jane pondered what her sister spoke as the door to her chambers opened wide and a messenger declared that 'His Majesty King Henry VIII is here to visit his wife Queen Jane'. Both ladies moved from where they were standing behind the curtain and walked into the outer chamber where Jane saw her husband waiting for her. Walking up towards him Jane gave her a deep curtsy and soon after all her ladies followed her example.

"You're Majesty" Jane said once he'd given her permission to rise. Henry led Jane to where the table holding their food was placed and walked around to the opposite side where he took his seat with Jane doing the same. "I thank Your Majesty for taking time out of your day to come eat with me, I have been looking most forward to it."

"Yes, well with all that is happening I have been… very busy. But I'll will try to be in your company more often, it is the least a husband can do for his wife." Henry said while trying to keep his smile from faltering. He remembered when he first met Jane, she was so different. Different from his then wife and different from the many mistresses he had taken. Jane was quiet and obedient, never uttering a word unless it was in her place to do so. It was such a contrast from Katherine who was never afraid to speak her mind, viewing Henry as an equal due to their shared royal status. Henry supposed that had always been one of the things that had infuriated him the most about her, the fact that without him she would still be something worth looking at; the Infanta of Spain. That was one of the things he liked about Jane as well. She knew her place. Knew that without his love she would be nothing but the daughter of a knight who would have been honoured to be married off to a nearby Lord.

Now though, things had changed. It had been little over six months since their marriage and yet Jane showed no symptoms of being with child. Even during his false marriage to Katherine she had always been quick to become pregnant with his child. What made it worse was that he could feel the other European Monarchs laughing behind his backs, making him out to be a fool. For surely one would have to be to go through all the trouble he went through to divorce Katherine only to marry a barren woman. He would have to talk about this to a member of Jane's family and ask if there was some kind of impediment to her conceiving his child – was she not aware that he was in desperate need of a legitimate Prince to be King after him so that the country would not fall into civil war between his two bastard children or any other pretender seeking to make the best of such an opportunity and put themselves on the throne instead.

Henry knew that the conception of a child would be more likely to happen if he visited Jane's bed more often, as he currently stood he made sure to visit her bed at least three times a week – except the week in which she experienced her monthly course for a child could not be conceived then – but every time he did he felt as though he was betraying Anne. Anne had not told him not to sleep with Jane, in fact she made sure to time her visits to that he could spend as much time with his wife as possible, but she didn't need to. Henry felt the same flare he had felt when he first saw Katherine, the bride of his brother Arthur, and Jane when she claimed that she would only accept gifts of the King when she had made a good and honourable marriage. Lust. Henry knew that lust and love were to very different things and that he could not go after Anne the same way he had gone after Jane as to do such a thing would make him even more of a laughing stock Henry did admit that the idea was a tempting one. Jane was no Katherine of Aragon who had one of the most powerful men in Europe on her side or a child that she believed to be of a lawful and legitimate union. The common people had never liked her either there would be little to no resistance to her removal, but that didn't matter. When his father, the great Henry VII claimed the throne Henry was sure that he didn't intend for it to be remembered for his son who got rid of his wives when another woman caught his fancy. No, he would preserve the Tudor honour.

He also owed it to Anne to behave honourable as well. She was the Marquess of Pembroke and formally the daughter of a knight. The people of the court only knew her as a friend to him through his sister and her husband. It would be best for all if he concealed his affection for Anne. The last thing Henry wanted was to give the court a figurehead in Anne to rally around in the hopes of deposing his unpopular Queen. Instead he would act as the perfect husband to his wife and Queen.

No words were spoken between them for a while and Jane knew the reason why, Anne Boleyn. Her husband's newest whore. As a wife Jane knew that it was the man's right to seek comfort outside of the marriage bed particularly when his wife was with child, but this annoyed her, worried her. If was as simple as Henry taking Mistress Boleyn as his mistress then she would have been able to handle the situation. It would hurt yes, but she would be able to comfort herself with the fact that this was just a onetime thing that would disappear as quickly as it showed itself. But this was something else completely. She couldn't lie to herself and claim that Anne was his mistress, she wasn't. She was his friend, and Jane couldn't tell that in the future that the line between friendship and something more wouldn't be blurred. All she knew was that this had to end. Jane resolved to speak to her brother about it, surely Edward would know what to do with the situation at hand. Perhaps they could create their own scandal for Anne instead of her waiting for her to make one of her own.

"Husband, I have heard about the illness of the Lady Mary and I am very sorry to hear it. I pray daily that she recovers swiftly" Jane suddenly changed the subject, remembering Edwards's words and knowing that it was her last chance to make Henry change his mind.

"It is something that has been troubling me for days." Henry said honestly these past few days had been hard on him knowing that his only daughter to survive infancy was on deaths door and that there was nothing he could do to stop it, "Unfortunately I cannot be there for her, the risk of contamination is too great and the affairs of state keep me busy, so I have sent Katherine in my place. She has signed the oath and swears that she will convince Mary to do so once she is well." _'Not to mention the fact that it would undoubtedly make Mary happy to see her much beloved mother'_ Henry inwardly thought.

"Why don't we visit Mary ourselves once she is better instead of sending Katherine to her. For surely she would be more happy to see her father than her mother" Jane smiled sweetly, inwardly hoping that her words would have the desired effect on Henry and she would not have to bear the brunt of his anger.

If Jane was hoping for anything good to come from her words she was doomed to be disappointed, inside his head Henry was fuming. How dare her!? How dare she openly defy his orders like that and expect to be indulged like a spoiled child? She was his wife not his mister, she had no businesses involving herself with matters not meant for her, why did it matter whether Katherine visited Mary or not. She may have once been his wife but he trusted her to carry out her end of the bargain and convince Mary to sign to oath and she had yet to breach his trust and therefore he had no reason to complain of her.

"As I have said dear wife, I have my reasons for not being able to visit and therefore Mary's mother will stand in my place as is proper. I shall hear no more of this from you and you will content yourself with your Queenly duties. Once you have birthed me a son Mary will be moved out of Ludlow and you will be an anointed Queen as you so desire to be." Henry said while trying to keep his voice straight. Jane had no right to complain of Mary when she had not yet gotten herself with child, he was only preparing the country for the worst if he died suddenly with no male heir to succeed him. If Jane proved able to bear a son he would dismantle such plans but for now things would stay as they are.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The view of the countryside in all its glory and thoughts about visiting Mary kept Katherine content as the carriage continued to roll across the dirt path underneath them. They had set out little over two hours ago and it would take them approximately two days to get to Ludlow castle. It was soon to be noon and therefore their first stop to eat and drink as well as to care for the horses. Katherine had spent the first part of the carriage ride in a comfortable silence with her friend Maria, who had come with her from Spain to serve as her Lady-in-waiting. Katherine remembered back in those days how excited she felt to be marring Arthur, as was her duty her mother had told her. She had brought Katherine up with the knowledge that she would one day be Queen of England and Katherine did not want to disappoint. When she first met Arthur he was kind enough, but he was barely able to speak around her. When the time came for their wedding night the poor boy had been too nervous or tried to complete his duty.

Katherine believed that to have been caused by his formidable grandmother, Margret Beaufort, who never let Arthur out of her sight and always kept him cooped up inside. At the time this hadn't worried Katherine, by the time she and Arthur left for Ludlow they were becoming fast friends and that in time they would join together and truly become man and wife and that Katherine would be able to spare Arthur the embarrassment that he was too weak to be with his wife and claim that she was the one to blame. That she had a difficult time conceiving the Tudor heir.

Looking back at it now Katherine could see how such a plan was doomed to fail in a place where secrets were non-existent, and little over a month into their marriage Arthur died. That was the first time she had truly felt heartbreak, when she was told that the husband she was beginning to love was taken from her and his arrogant brother was too fill the shoes that were many sizes too big. Then – for the sake of the alliance – she married Henry, and despite all that he said she did come to him as a virgin, but even Katherine couldn't lie and say that Henry should have never doubted her. It shocked her when Henry came to her all those years later asking for a divorce, after all she had learned to fall in love with him. But what was more shocking was that he was using the same argument he had dismissed as falsehood back when he wanted to marry her and others were claiming that they should send her home, saying that she was truly his brother's widow and that their union had been one of sin. After all those years of a faithful and loving marriage he was willing to through it away. He claimed that a woman couldn't rule England as the people would never accept it. Then why couldn't he marry Mary so that the throne would pass through her to her son? Sure Katherine would be hurt that her beloved daughter would be forced to step aside for a child – even if it was her grandson – but she was sure that she could resign herself to the idea and love the child as part of the family.

That's when it dawned upon her. This was about pride. Pride, in the sense that Henry would never want the people of England thinking that he was so incapable of bearing a son that he had to get his daughter to do it for him. No Henry wanted the world to know that he, Henry VIII King of England, Ireland and of France, had sired the next King and it was when she realised this she knew that she had to sign the oath. She prayed for forgiveness for her soul and for Mary's every day since she signed the awful piece of paper and promise to get Mary to do the same, she had decided long ago that the possibility that Henry could be talked out of divorcing her had gone a long time ago and that it was a certain fact now that she was the Dowager Princesses of Wales and Mary was the oldest of Henry's bastards. The only thing she could do now was make the transition easier for herself and Mary and hope that the King showed mercy towards them, she only hoped that the English people and her mother could forgive her for being so weak.

Outside the carriage Charles Brandon, the first Duke of Suffolk, was talking to one of the leading men and they all agreed that now would be a good time to stop as to feed and rest the horses. They had been traveling now for just under three hours and it was now noon, prime time to rest as the weather seemed to be holding out and there were no signs of incoming rain towards them. Slowing the pace of his horse to allow the carriages behind them to approach them Charles leaned over to the man driving the first carriage and spoke to him. "We are expecting to stop now"

The man simply nodded before signalling with his other hand to the man driving the carriage behind them and began to slow down the already slow pace of the slow pace of the carriage to a stop. Gently, Charles swung down off of his horse and opened the carriage door. "Your Highness, were are taking a short break if you wish to come out of the carriage and eat we have some blankets laid down on the grass nearby" True to his words behind Charles was a large blanket lying on the grass. Upon the blanket there were a few silk pillows with the most luminous of them all intended for Katherine and above it all was a thick canopy to keep the sun's rays off them while they ate.

"Thank you, Charles" Katherine said as he extended his hand to help both her and Maria out of the carriage and lead to where they would be eating. Katherine sat down first alongside Charles as did Maria before the rest of her ladies from the carriage behind her came and filled up the remainder of the space. "So Charles, tell me, what am I to expect out of this journey?"

"His Majesty has decreed that you are to visit Ludlow to help the Lad Mary aide in her recovery and help in her choice regarding the oath. He has also decreed that I am to escort you to Ludlow and once the Lady Mary has signed the oath to Eltham Palace." Charles said uncomfortably knowing that although she had signed the oath it was not a subject that would be comfortable to talk with her about considering what it meant for her and her daughter.

"I have no doubt that Her Majesty is none too pleased about this" Katherine said with resentment rising up in her voice thinking about how while her daughter was suffering Jane was currently basking in Henry's attention. "I assume that Henry is still deeply in love with her?"

"Fear not Your Highness, the Queen had been falling out of Henry's favour even if he hides it well from the court it is obvious when we are alone that she has disappointed him in some way and has even began to ignore her power hungry family's attempts to get a private audience. Many say it is due to her not being with child already" Charles stated glad to be able to inform Katherine that her replacement was struggling to fill a role not suited for her.

"That is to be expected of Henry, he has never liked to wait for anything. Even more so now as he knows that he can just divorce Jane and find another wife to begin the whole process over again with." Katherine felt some measure of sympathy toward Jane as Henry would not be as generous or as kind as he was towards Katherine in terms of having a son or a divorce, if Jane wanted to rest easy at night the she would have to complete the job that Katherine was unable to do and have a son.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

 **Author's Note: What did you guys think of the chapter? Please be sure to tell me in the review section below please.**


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